What are Hoverflies?

About Hoverflies:

• Hoverflies, sometimes called ‘flower flies’ or ‘syrphid flies’, are any member of a family that contains about 6,000 species of insects in the fly order, Diptera.
• Their various common names refer to the behaviour of hovering around flowers.
• They are found worldwide, from temperate regions to tropical environments.
• Hoverflies, with their yellow markings, resemble wasps or bees but do not bite or sting.
  • They can be readily distinguished from wasps and bees by their single pair of wings.
• They are distinguished from other flies by a false (spurious) vein that closely parallels the fourth longitudinal wing vein.
• The species vary from small, elongated, and slender to large, hairy, and yellow and black.
• They also have a typical fly head with short antennae and bulbous eyes.
• Beneficial Insect:
  • Adults feed on nectar and pollen, making them important pollinators in a variety of habitats. 
  • The larvae of many species feed on aphids (soft-bodied insects that use their piercing sucking mouthparts to feed on plant sap), mites and small insects helping to control populations of these pests.
  • Others are efficient nutrient recyclers.

Q1: What are Wasps?

Wasp, any member of a group of insects in the order Hymenoptera, suborder Apocrita, some of which are stinging. Wasps are distinguished from the ants and bees of Apocrita by various behavioral and physical characteristics, particularly their possession of a slender, smooth body and legs with relatively few hairs. Wasps also generally are predatory or parasitic and have stingers with few barbs that can be removed easily from their victims.

Source: 3 Kashmiri Scientists Discover New Species Of Hoverfly

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