Hi
,
You're sitting on your porch enjoying a glass of iced tea. Suddenly, a dangerous-looking insect zeroes in on your finger, and just hovers there, looking at it. You swat it away, thinking it's getting ready to sting. It comes back, and just stops in mid-air, hovering perfectly in one place!
Before you get the fly swatter and take it out for good, consider that might not be what you think it is! It might be a hover fly....
This little creature is actually quite harmless, but very beneficial since their larvae feed on creatures that are considered pests, like
aphids. The adult hover fly feeds on nectar. They look like wasps or hornets because God has given them this unique protection as a disguise - a great example of batesian mimicry. So, the next time you might be trying to identify what you're looking at, here is a general guidline that compares the two types of creatiures...
