Meet the hoverflies – IUCN SSC Hoverfly Specialist Group

iucnhoverflysg

🐛🍽️🪲 ❓Did you know that one aphidopha

🐛🍽️🪲
❓Did you know that one aphidophagous hoverfly larva can eat up to 400 aphids during development?

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #cuteillustration #mascot #diptera #pollination #pollinators #sciencefacts #episyrphusbalteatus
#marmeladehoverfly
#larvae #aphids #aphidophagous #zoophagous

#MeetTheHoverflies Milesia cretica
🇬🇷🪰

❓Can you believe that one of the newly described European hoverfly species has up to 24mm body length?

🆕📰In the recently published paper, a team of entomologists describe Milesia cretica, a new species to science. If it was longer by only 2mm, it would topple M. crabroniformis from the throne of the largest European syrphid.

📖You can read more information about this beautiful species in the paper "A new species of the genus Milesia Latreille (Diptera: Syrphidae) from Crete" by Sander Bot, Ximo Mengual, Jeroen van Steenis and Jeffrey H. Skevington.

Photos are from the publication listed above.

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #redlist #taxonomy #science #pollination #pollinators #milesia #diptera #newspecies #milesiasemiluctifera
#milesiacrabroniformis
#milesiacretica #mimicry #crete

#MeetTheHoverflies Rhingia campestris

🪰🤥🐄

Rhingia campestris is, like other relatives from the Rhingia genus, easily recognised by its long snout. To be clear, her long nose has nothing in common with Pinocchio. Rhingia mainly feeds on nectar, so its long nose results from evolutionary adaptation. It enables Rhingia to take nectar from deeper flowers, reaching the parts other hoverflies cannot reach!

Rhingia is a Palaearctic species and you can see them flying from April until October, with peaks in May-June and August.

This species can be found in many moist habitat types, such as wetlands, open forest areas and alluvial forests along streams and rivers. It is also present in cultivated areas such as herb-rich meadows, hedgerows, parks and gardens.

The larvae are saprophages living in moist cow dung and probably in the dung of other animals. Interestingly, females will lay eggs in vegetation in the cow paths, so larvae can easily drop or move down into dung.

Several threats can negatively affect the Rhingia campestris populations: diminishing of cow grazing, habitat management and possibly the use of veterinary medicines which can affects larvae.

Rhingia campestris is listed as Least Concern in the European Red List of Hoverflies.

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #redlist #taxonomy #science #pollination #pollinators #rhingia #rhingiacampestris #diptera #commonsnout
#commonsnouthoverfly #heinekenfly

🍽️🐛Did you know that there are three hover

🍽️🐛Did you know that there are three hoverfly larval feeding types: saprophagous, phytophagous and zoophagous?

🗑️🌰🪲

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #cuteillustration #mascot #diptera #pollination #pollinators #sciencefacts #larva
#larvae #pupa #maggot #saprophagous #phytophagous #zoophagous #canteen #funnyscience #funnyillustration #chef

〰️🪰Is there a better way to start Movember

〰️🪰Is there a better way to start Movember than with the most beautiful hoverfly moustache?

This species seems to have flown out of an Agatha Christie book📚. Check out this Hercule Poirot-style moustache on Episyrphus balteatus abdomen.🕵️

Do you know any other hoverflies with moustaches?

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #redlist #taxonomy #science #pollination #pollinators #diptera #movember
#moustache #poirot #agathachristie #detective

🪰❤️🎃Halloween is one of the favourite ho

🪰❤️🎃Halloween is one of the favourite hoverflies' celebrations. Indeed, they love it so much that they wear bees, bumblebees, hornet and waps costumes daily. However, some hoverflies will go a step further. They will also mimic the breathing behaviour of wasps and bees by pulsing their abdomen. Some will mimic 💤💤 the sound of their models during flight.

🐦🌸And with all listed above, they trick birds and other predators successfully. But, more importantly, they get treats from lovely flowers. What a nice community.

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #redlist #taxonomy #science #pollination #pollinators #diptera #mimicry #batesianmimicry #halloween

#MeetTheHoverflies Criorhina asilica 🐻🪰Wh

#MeetTheHoverflies Criorhina asilica

🐻🪰What a lovely name have this species: Pale-banded Bear Hoverfly. As you can see, it perfectly mimics bees 🐝. This species loves forest habitats and lives up to 1350 masl 🏔️

The flight period is from mid-April until June and at higher altitudes or more northern latitudes to late July.

They have one generation per year.

You can see males quickly patrol around flowering shrubs and zigzag through the vegetation. Sometimes they are found in groups on and around tree trunks suitable for egg deposition.

🐛The larvae develop in decaying wood of deciduous trees🌳. The immature stages have been found in tree humus in a trunk cavity of Fagus sylvestrus and in or near rot holes of Betula spp. and Populus tremula.

🪓Possible threats are lousy forest management, old trees and fallen tree trunks being removed, or the original forest being replaced by other, primarily fast-growing tree species unsuitable for larval development.

Criorhina asilica is listed as Least Concern in the European Red List of Hoverflies.

Photo by Bert Ovink

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #redlist #taxonomy #science #pollination #pollinators #Criorhinaasilica #diptera

🪰🥊🏆🥊🪰Did you know that there is an

🪰🥊🏆🥊🪰Did you know that there is an exciting competition going on in Europe? Earlier, the genus Cheilosia was the most numerous, then research on Merodon intensified, so Merodon overtook Cheilosia for only one species!

🌻We will see what kind of answer the Cheilosia team will give and whether the genus Merodon will continue to be the most numerous genus in Europe in the future.

According to IUCN red list, there are 119 Merodon and 118 Cheilosia species in Europe.

What caused the diversification of these two genera❓What do you think❓

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #diptera #pollination #pollinators #crypticspecies #merodon #endangered #cheilosia #MeetTheHoverflies #competition #europe
#europeanredlistofhoverflies #alps
#alpmountains

🪰🥚🐛💊 Hoverflies have four life stages:

🪰🥚🐛💊 Hoverflies have four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. After hatching, larvae develop through three increasingly larger instars.

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #cuteillustration #mascot #diptera #pollination #pollinators #sciencefacts #lifecycle #larva #larvae #pupa #maggot

💭Close your eyes and think about someplace with

💭Close your eyes and think about someplace with hoverflies.

🌸🌼🪰🌺🌻🌈🌳

You probably imagined a lovely meadow on the forest edge with different wildflowers and hoverflies sliding through the air.

☀️🪰🪨However, that lovely meadow is not the only type of hoverfly habitat. Syrphidae can be found in a wide range of habitats, depending on their larval and adult preferences.

➡️Here is an example of a habitat that is not so commonly known. In the photo is a type locality of Merodon naxius. As you can see, M. naxius prefers shrublands (Mediterranean maquis) and like most Merodon species, it is connected to rocky, sunny habitats rich with bulb plants.

Merodon naxius is a recently described cryptic species from the M. luteomaculatus complex. It is endemic to two Greek islands, Naxos and Iraklia.

🛑M. naxius s listed as Endangered in the European Red List of Hoverflies.

Photo by: Ante Vujić

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #diptera #pollination #pollinators #crypticspecies #merodon #endangered #shrubland
#iucnredlist #meetthehoverflies
#redlist #bulbs

🛑🪰European Red List of Hoverflies and Euro

🪰🐛🐌 Did you know that some Microdon larva

🪰🐛🐌
Did you know that some Microdon larvae were originally described as molluscs❓

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #cuteillustration #mascot #diptera #pollination #pollinators #sciencefacts #snail #mollusk #microdon #mollusc

#MeetTheHoverflies Ferdinandea cuprea 🪰You can

#MeetTheHoverflies Ferdinandea cuprea

🪰You can see this beauty flying from March to October. Adults appear on tree trunks, on the ground among leaves, on stones near tracks in the 🌞, and also at sap runs.

🌼🌳🌳🌳🌸The habitat of this species is mainly forest, more specifically deciduous forest with mature trees: alluvial forest of Populus, Quercus, Salix and Caprinus, acidophilus and thermophilus Quercus and Betula forest.

In Ireland, there are records away from woodland areas, suggesting that sometimes this species can develop in rotting parts of large herbaceous plants, as well as in sap runs on the trunks of trees. In France, it has been reared from Cynara scolymus roots that were also attacked by Cheilosia vulpina larvae.

The general range of this species is from Fennoscandia south to southern Spain and North Africa and round the Mediterranean through southern Europe to Turkey; from Ireland eastwards through central/northern parts of Eurasia to the Pacific coast of Siberia and Japan.

The main threats to this species are related to the habitat. Ferdinandea cuprea is listed as Least Concern in the European Red List of Hoverflies. This species has been categorised as Least Concern in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. It is considered to be very common in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Photo by: Steven Falk

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #redlist #taxonomy #science #pollination #pollinators #Ferdinandeacuprea #diptera

⚠️ 3️⃣7️⃣% of all hoverfly species in

⚠️ 3️⃣7️⃣% of all hoverfly species in Europe are threatened with #extinction, according to the first continent-wide assessment of this essential pollinator group on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which was requested and funded by the European Commission.

Read more in post captions.

#important #IUCN #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #hoverflies #HoverflyFacts #iucnredlist #redlist #pollination #pollinators #endangeredspecies #vulnerablespecies #savethehoverflies #europe #pollinationdecline

❄️Did you know that hoverflies can be found on

❄️Did you know that hoverflies can be found on all continents except Antarctica? ❄️

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #cuteillustration #mascot #diptera #pollination #pollinators #southpole #distribution #antartica #novacancy #sciencefacts

❓Why is it essential to detect cryptic species?

❓Why is it essential to detect cryptic species? Why would we bother?

🔬🪰🪰🪰If scientists had not discovered that M. atratus is a complex of three cryptic species, we would not known that one of them, M. balkanicus is endangered and that second one, M. virgatus is vulnerable.

💪Now, we know, and we can do our best to protect this valuable part of insect diversity thanks to science and integrative taxonomy.

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #diptera #pollination #pollinators #integrativetaxonomy #crypticspecies #merodon #endangeredspecies
#vulnerable

📸🪰When we took a photo, this was Merodon aur

📸🪰When we took a photo, this was Merodon aureus. Today, the picture shows the species M. calidus, even if they look the same. How is it possible?

🔬🪰Modern technologies open new doors in the taxonomic research of hoverflies, and behind some doors, scientists will reveal cryptic species.

🪰🟰🪰Cryptic species are morphologically inseparable, and their presence can only be determined by, e.g. molecular and morphometric research, like in the case of M. aureus and M. calidus.

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #diptera #pollination #pollinators #integrativetaxonomy #crypticspecies #merodon

#HoverflyFacts 🥈Did you know that hoverflies

#HoverflyFacts

🥈Did you know that hoverflies are the second-most important pollinators after wild bees?

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #cuteillustration #mascot #diptera #pollination #pollinators #bee #wildbees #sciencefacts

Batesian mimicry is a phenomenon in which non-harm

Batesian mimicry is a phenomenon in which non-harmful species have evolved to mimic the appearance of a species that is harmful to potential predators.

#iucn #iucnhoverflysg #hoverfly #syrphidae #conservation #wildlife #insect #hoverflies #taxonomy #science #Batesianmimicry #mimicry
#funnyscience #bee #pollination
#pollinators #shortmovie

#MeetTheHoverflies Myathropa florea Today we're

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