Hover flies, commonly known as flower or syrphid flies, are revealed to be best friends to gardeners in pest control. These small—often brilliant—colored insects not only are good providers of pest control against aphid populations but also are crucial to successful pollination. One should know how to lure and take care of hover flies in one’s garden in order to increase plant health and productivity, with a decrease in chemical pest control. This article now delves into more detail about benefits, lifecycle, and plants best used to attract Hover Flies to a garden.
Benefits of Hover Flies
Hover Flies offer two major benefits to gardeners including pest control and pollination.
- Biological Control: Hover fly larvae are well-known voracious aphid and thrips predators, besides other soft-bodied pests. A single hover fly larva is capable of consuming hundreds of aphids during its development. This makes them of great value in organic gardening and integrated pest management strategies.
- Pollination: Adult hover flies have sugary and pollen-based diets and may enhance the effectiveness of pollination service for many plant species. They can also contribute to increased fruit set and crop yield in vegetable gardens and orchards.
Life Cycle of Hover Flies
Understanding the life cycle of the flies is important to know when trying to attract and provide for them. Hover flies follow the complete metamorphosis life stage that consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
Egg: Female hover flies lay their eggs close to aphid colonies, so that the emerging larvae will have a ready food source. The eggs are usually laid on the undersides of leaves.
Larva: The legless larvae are small caterpillar or maggot-like in appearance. They are feeders upon aphids and other pests and grow very fast over a period of a few days to weeks.
Pupa: When the larvae have attained full length, they pupate. The pupation may take place on the plant or in the soil, depending on the species.
Adult: The adult hover flies that emerge from the pupae have the organs developed for feeding on nectar and pollen. They are excellent fliers; most of their time is spent hovering over the flowers, which makes them get their common name.
Plants That Attract Hover Flies
What is more important is attracting hover flies into your garden, and that is a continued supply of nectar and pollen during the season. Hoverflies are attracted to plants with shallow easy-access flowers that offer a continuous supply of nectar. Here are some plants that are known to be effective at attracting hover flies:
- Alyssum (L. maritima): This is low-growing and an annual, but forms into clusters of rather small, sweetly fragrant flowers. It blooms profusely and will thus attract many kinds of beneficial insects, hover flies in particular. Alyssum is an easy-growing plant that can be propagated en-masse as a ground cover or in spots as an edging plant.
- Yarrow: A very tough perennial, with small flowers in flat heads. Good for hover flies and other beneficial insects. It is also a medicinal herb used in herbal remedies.
- Dill (Anethum graveolens): Dill is an annual herb with finely divided feathery foliage and flat-topped clusters of tiny yellow flowers. It is the favorite food of hover flies, and its seeds are used in pickles. It should be grown with vegetables for intercropping to attract hover flies and for biological control.
- Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare): A tall perennial herb with umbels of yellow flowers. This plant uses attractant hover flies and other beneficial insects to good advantage if sited in a vegetable garden. Bulbs and seeds of fennel are compositionally edible and used as a flavoring adjunct with anise.
- Marigold (Tagetes spp.): Marigolds are common annuals, known for their bright and brilliant flowers. In containers or on the ground, they will grow easily and attract hover flies and other pollinators. They can also repel other pests away from the crops.
- Lavender (Lavandula spp.): This sweet-smelling perennial herb bears purple flowers in spikes and attracts hover flies, bees, and butterflies. In addition it is drought tolerant and may be used to form attractive borders or hedges.
- Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum): This is a quick-growing annual with small, white-flowered bunches. Outstanding for a cover crop, it consistently attracts hover flies and other beneficial insects. Organic matter and the addition of nutrients add important soil health.
- Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus): An annual with daisy-like flowers that come in numerous colors. A summer and autumn bloomer, attractive to hover flies, bees, and butterflies. It is also easy to grow from seed.
- Goldenrod (Solidago spp.): With plants having all the characteristics of this perennial herb, it will be sure to draw in many hoverflies and other pollinators with its tall spikes of yellow-colored flowers. Advertisement is often mistakenly accused of causing hay fever symptoms when it is actually ragweed, Tourism-RELATED TERMINOLOGY.
- Sunflower, Helianthus annuus: This can be considered an annual with big, showy flowers; these are excellent for hoverflies, bees, and birds. These plants are easy to grow, so sunflowers can be a great addition to a wildlife garden for both food and habitat.
- Nepeta spp.: Nepeta, or catmint, is a perennial herb with lavender-blue flowers borne in spikes. It attracts hover flies and other beneficial insects, and it is very drought tolerant, so it can be used as ground cover or as a border plant.
- Coriander—Coriandrum sativum: Known by most as cilantro, this is an annual herb with umbels of tiny white flowers. It attracts hover flies and other beneficial insects. The leaves and seeds of coriander are used similarly.
- Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.): Coreopsis is a herbaceous perennial which bears bright, daisy-like flowers. It blooms during the early summer into fall and attracts hover flies, bees, and butterflies. This flowering plant is one which is so easy to cultivate and will bring cheer into a garden.
Making a Garden Hospitable to Hover Flies
Sowing hover fly-attracting flowers is not the only means of transforming the garden into a very pleasing place for them. There are other mechanisms by which this can be attained and these include:
Water: Like all other insects, hover flies require water for their survival. Place a bird bath with pebbles or floating leaves on which they can alight and drink.
Avoid Pesticides: Pesticides harm hoverflies and other beneficial insects. Utilize organic pest practices that control pest populations or encourage natural predators.
Create Habitat: Offer sheltered areas where hover flies can use as a resting site and egg-laying site. Some ideal places might be some tall grasses, bushes, or small trees.
Vegetation Diversity: A garden with diverse plant life—a lot of flowering plants, herbs, and vegetables—will draw more of other beneficial insects, including hover flies. The idea will be to have something continually blooming throughout the growing season.
Recognize how hover flies can benefit and plant some of the various flowers from which they derive nectar to form a teeming, healthy garden. With their effective control over pests and pollination, they make for a very handy friend to the garden. Welcome this diminutive and useful ally into your garden.