What makes flies hover

Many species perform the useful role of ridding the garden of aphids, as they lay their eggs in aphid colonies and the larvae maggots feed on the aphids. Hover flies are also called flower flies because they are commonly seen during warmer months hovering among flowers, feeding and mating.

They pollinate many plants and help keep aphids under control. Some hover fly species Eristalis sp lay their eggs in stagnant water. These aquatic larvae have a long thin breathing tube - hence the common name, "rat-tailed maggots".

Another hover fly species Microdon sp has a larval form that scientists originally classified as a mollusc because it looks rather like a small slug. Microdon larvae survive by scavenging in ant nests, mimicking the ants' chemicals in order to escape detection by their hosts. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands.

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Learn more. Skip to main content Skip to acknowledgement of country Skip to footer Hover fly, definitely from the genus Mesembrius, but there are a few undescribed species in Australia, and it is difficult tell them apart from photos. An examination would be required in order to name which species from the Genus. Introduction Hover flies have a characteristic flight pattern - hovering in one spot, moving suddenly forwards or sideways, then hovering again.

Identification Hover flies are small to medium sized flies with large heads, large eyes, and small or inconspicuous antennae. Fruit flies are attracted to rotting fruit or vegetables as well as liquor and beer. Blowflies, also called bottle flies, are larger than houseflies and are easily recognized by their metallic green or blue bodies. You can actually hear blowflies coming by the loud buzzing sound they make when they fly.

Blowflies like to hang around humans because they are attracted to decaying organic material like rotting food, trash, and dead plants or animals. However, successfully swatting a fly is incredibly difficult. Flies have complex compound eyes that allow them to see all around them. Some research published this week investigates just how flies pull their acrobatics off. We've known for a while that flies have a " gearbox " that helps them rev up their wings.

Research out this week identifies the location of the flies' clutch and transmission. This is news because it's really cool, of course, but also because the better we understand biological systems, the easier it is to copy them. Human engineers use insects as inspiration for biomimetic robots, drones, and other machines. Insects have advanced degrees in materials science, physics, and mass production.

Flies can measure pitch and yaw and recalculate on the fly to correct their flight. It's a model tested by millions of years of evolution. One way to tell if you are looking at a true fly is to count wings -- flies have only two functional wings. Their other pair of wings have shrunken into drumstick-like organs called halteres. Halteres function as gyroscopes that help flies orient themselves in flight. Like a balance and guidance system, they measure torque and angular momentum around the body.

When you watch a fly in normal flight, you can see the white drumstick-shaped halteres flapping up and down in opposition antiphase to the front wings. In lots of insects with two pairs of wings, they flap together, not as opposites. In bees and butterflies, both pairs of wings are hooked together so they flap as one large wing surface. But flies move their two sets of appendages in opposite directions -- and at incredibly high speeds. A human equivalent might be patting your head and rubbing your stomach while running an 8-minute mile by hopping.