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StumbleUponPosts Tagged: syrphid fly
Syrphid Fly in Rock Purslane: When a House Is a Home
When a house is a home... Take the case of a syrphid fly, aka hover fly or flower fly. It's a cold...
A syrphid fly, tucked in the folds of a rock purslane, Calandrinia grandiflora, sips nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The syrphid fly rotates its body to gather more nectar glean more sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The syprhid is just about ready to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Henrietta and the Drone Fly: The Predator and the Prey
Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, perches on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). She...
Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, lies in wait on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia.) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A drone fly (syrphid) lands on the blossom as a hungry praying mantis watches intently. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
One quick move and praying mantis has dinner. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The spiked forelegs hold the prey in place. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's eat and be eaten in the garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Henrietta the praying mantis polishes off the last of the fly but a wing is visible evidence of what happened. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Frit and the Fly: Who Wins?
The Frit and the fly...or the butterfly and the fly... That would be the Gulf...
The syrphid fly tries to seek some nectar, but the Gulf Fritillary proclaims "This Mexican sunflower is occupied." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The butterfly begins to spread its wings as the syrphid edges closer to the nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The butterfly spreads and flattens its wings. The syrphid does not move. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Maybe if come around from a different direction!" the fly seems to say. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Ah, all mine!" proclaims the fly. "I scared off the butterfly." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Musical Flowers: Jockeying for Position
You've heard of "musical chairs," that anxiety-driven elimination game involving chairs, music and...
A black syrphid fly aims for the same Mexican sunflower, occupied by another syprhid fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
I'm outta here! The hover fly (probably Eristalis tenax) lifts off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Not giving up and still jockeying for position, the two hover flies try to claim the same flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ah, all mine. A black hover fly or Mexican cactus fly claims a Tithonia blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Lady Beetle and the Syrphid Fly
So, here I am, an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) perched on a rose bush in Vacaville,...
A large syrphid fly, Scaeva pyrastri (as identified by Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture), heads for a lady beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Touchdown! The large syrphid fly, Scaeva pyrastri, lands next to the lady beetle.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The syrphid fly licks honeydew from the lady beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the anus of the aphid.
