With today’s abundance of sunshine, the storm-related cold snap has come to an end and autumn insects were again out and about in the lower Susquehanna region. Yellowjacket Hover Flies (Milesia virginiensis) are important pollinators, feeding on flower nectar along the edges of forests and in meadows. These harmless mimics of yellowjacket wasps not only resemble their ill-tempered lookalikes in appearance, but they produce similar buzzy wing sounds too. Yellowjacket Hover Flies are known colloquially as “news bees” due to their habit of lingering around people and constantly “giving them the news”. The larvae are as beneficial as the adults, feeding on decaying plant matter in rotting wood. Larvae of some other members of their family, the Syrphidae, feed on aphids.
