Adults of this large group of flies are flower, hover,
or sweat flies. Adults feed on nectar and pollen of flowers, and pollinate plants. Many
are brightly colored and resemble bees or wasps. Most species hover motionless except for
beating their wings; others fly with a buzzing sound like bees.Syrphid fly larvae, as a
group, vary considerably in appearance and biology. They are 6 to 19 mm long, elongate,
legless, and slug-like. Their bodies are pointed at the head, blunt or broad at the tail
end, and somewhat depressed. Many are yellow, pink, green, or brown marked with black or
white.
The larvae are common among aphid colonies and move slowly over surfaces of plants,
using their pointed jaws to grab aphids and suck out the body contents before discarding
the aphid skins. Syrphid fly larvae can consume one aphid per minute. Adults lay
glistening white, elongated eggs among colonies of aphids.
