Flower Fly /Hoverfly
Order: Diptera Family: Syrphidae
-Hover flies are a diverse family and are found in many habitats.
Many people recognize the familiar "flower fly" that pollinates flowering plants and whose pointy-headed offspring (maggots) blindly tap their way through the foliage searching for juicy aphids and other small, soft-bodied insects.
-The adult "flower fly" and many other syrphids are bee/wasp mimics, sporting the typical yellow and black warning markings common to bees and wasps (order Hymenoptera). Of course, syrphids are just bluffing with these show-off colors and can not bite or sting in any way.
One can easily separate the syrphid flies from bees/ wasps by 1) the typical "hovering" flight common to hover flies (they can hold absolutely still in flight - except for their wings, of course), and 2) all flies have only two wings; all flying hymenopterans have four.
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