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Image Credit: Lisa W.
Flower Flies are excellent bee mimics, able to hover over flowers and people, but despite the warning colors, they are completely harmless.
Flower Flies are excellent pollinators. They visit flowers to eat pollen, and like other insects including bees, they pick up pollen grains on their bodies and transfer them to other blossoms. Flower Flies in the Toxomerus genus appear to have a flat abdomen that is able to bend at almost awkward angles. They do not sting and are harmless to people. This particular species can be found on, or near, corn and sorghum plants as well as garden flowers.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Diptera
Family:Syrphidae
Genus:Toxomerus
Species:politus
Identifying Information
Scientific Name: Toxomerus politus
Other Name(s): Hover Fly
Category:
Fly or Mosquito
Size (Adult; Length): 7mm to 9mm (0.27in to 0.35in)
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