Whenever possible, I enlist my husband to photograph the bugs in our gardens and find out what they are. It's truly amazing to us to see in one year how our garden had nearly ZERO pollinators to where we could now make a page-long LIST of the varieties of bees, flies, wasps, spiders, birds, butterflies/moths and more that have flooded into our front, side and back gardens. It's dreamy.
So when I saw these drone flies on the bronze fennel by our front porch, I called him over to snap some shots...
This beauty is known for mimicking the honeybee which serves as protection from predators, and even though it's nickname is 'rat-tailed maggot' (ew!), it's both harmless and a PHENOMENAL pollinator, eclipsing even the bees they resemble.
"While bees are often recognized as the primary pollinators, hoverflies like the drone fly are equally efficient in this role. In fact, in certain environments and under specific conditions, hoverflies might even surpass bees in terms of pollination efficiency. This is particularly true in areas where bee populations are declining or are under threat. Comparatively, while bees tend to be more methodical in their approach to visiting the flowers of a single species during a foraging trip, hoverflies are less selective. This non-discriminatory approach to foraging means that hover flies can potentially pollinate a broader range of plants during a single trip." - from WhatsThatBug
So remember, folks, flies on flowers are NOT a bad thing...in fact, they shoulder a LOT of the pollinator duties out there, which is essential to life on this planet.
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