A Hover Fly, Allograpta Obliqua (Say)

One of the colorful and common little flies in Florida which is most often mistaken for a harmful fruit fly is Allograpta obliqua (Say), a hover fly, flower fly, or syrphid fly, these flies are expert fliers and can hover or fly backward, an ability possessed by few insects other than syrphid flies. Adults often visit flowers for nectar or may be seen around aphid colonies where they feed on honeydew secreted by the aphids and lay their eggs, the adults are considered to be important agents in the cross pollination of some plants, the larvae are important predators, feeding primarily on aphids that attack citrus, subtropical fruit trees, grains, corn, alfalfa, cotton, grapes, lettuce and other vegetables, ornamentals, and many wild host plants of the aphids, when larval populations are high they may effect 70 to 100% control of aphid populations.