Not everything stripy and buzzy flying in my garden is a bee! Some of the hardest working pollinators are flower flies! Some folks call them hoverflies because they hover over blossoms. According to one horticulture educator, hoverflies pollinate strawberries, apples, plums, pears, cherries, raspberries and blackberries.
So how can you tell if that yellow-and-black buzzy insect is a fly or a bee? Get a close look.
Not THAT close! A couple hand-lengths away should allow you to observe them without making them nervous. Look at:
- their eyes. Flies have large eyes that meet at the top of their head. Bees and wasps have smaller eyes that sit on the side of their heads.
- their antennae: Flies have short, stubby antennae that sometimes look like tiny clubs. Bees and wasps have long, thin antennae that are made of segments.
- their wings. Flies have only one pair of wings and tend to hold them out to the side when on a flower. Bees and wasps have two pair and tend to fold them over their back when resting.
There are 6,000 kinds of flower flies around the world - what kind do you see on the flowers in your yard?
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