Hoverflies have beautiful babies..!

The hoverfly travels between Britain and Europe every spring and autumn. Each seasonal trip around four billion hoverflies cross the English Channel into Europe.

Around the world, many insect populations are declining. That means that migratory pollinators, like the hoverfly, play an important part in regulating their ecosystems, as they spread pollen, eat pests, and become a food source for other animals.

Scientists at the University of Exeter are behind a study that examined the migrating hoverfly in southern England. They set up radar stations and, over ten years, tracked the insects through the sky. The researchers found that not only were the hoverfly immigrations giant in the sheer number of bugs, they were also giant in their environmental effects.
For example, the flies ate about six trillion aphids every year, and pollinated billions of flowers.

Hover flies live for about a month and their life cycle takes place in four stages. The stages include egg, larva, pupa and imago (last stage in attaining maturity).

When the eggs hatch, the larvae emerge and start feeding on the plant leaves and aphid populations. They also feed on other small, soft insects. The larvae consume hundreds of aphids in this stage. The larvae are legless and maggot-like. After a week of feeding, the larvae fall to the soil and pupate for around two weeks.

Pupation helps them metamorphose into imagoes. The imagoes emerge from the pupae as young hoverflies. They feed on nectar, pollen, and honeydew from aphids and mature into adult flies. In a year, 3 to 7 generations of these syrphid flies may be produced.

PS. Flight speed has been recorded as 3.5 metres per second with a wing beat of 120 per second. (Try flapping your arms at that speed!)

My photo of the hoverfly, but I borrowed the one of the larvae having breakfast.