Hover flies (flower flies)
Syrphidae
Fly
Family-level entry for the wasp- and bee-mimicking flies that are among the most frequent flower visitors in North American gardens and, after wild bees, often considered the second-most important group of pollinators. Adults feed on nectar and pollen and favor shallow, accessible flowers - flat-topped Apiaceae umbels (golden-alexanders, fennel, dill) and open composite Asteraceae blooms - that their short mouthparts can reach. The larvae of roughly 40 percent of species are predators of aphids and other soft-bodied insects, with a single larva consuming up to several hundred aphids over its two-to-three-week development, making them important natural pest control alongside their pollination role.
Conservation
No syrphid species is listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and the family as a whole is widespread and common. Studies note that diversity and the number of specialist species fall sharply in areas of intensive land use, so the lack of formal listings may partly reflect limited research rather than an absence of threats. Providing a long succession of open, nectar- and pollen-rich flowers is the canonical garden action for supporting them.
Plan for this species
Location-fit plant set for Chicago, IL: host and specialist plants first, then nectar, fruit, seed, foliage, and shelter plants that still fit the current and mid-century climate read.
0 essential relationships / 6 supporting plants
Host/specialist links: 0
Forage/pollination links: 6
Shelter links: 0
Relationship roles: 2
Pagoda dogwood
Supporting / Plants this species pollinates
Hoverflies are the visitor group most often overlooked on this kind of flower and are among the most numerous on it. A shallow open cyme with exposed nectaries suits a short mouthpart perfectly, and hoverflies are active in cool, part-shaded woodland-edge conditions where bee activity drops off - which is precisely the habitat this plant occupies. The larvae of many syrphids are aphid predators, so the same insects are working on the pest side of the garden as well.
Silky dogwood
Supporting / Plants this species pollinates
Wikipedia names flies alongside bees among the pollinators, and the flower architecture explains why: a flat-topped cyme with tiny open flowers is the classic short-tongued-insect platform. Hoverflies are the most numerous of those visitors on shrub dogwoods, and their larvae are aphid predators, so the same plant is feeding an adult pollinator and subsidising pest control in the beds around it.
Aromatic aster
Supporting / Nectar plants
Black elder
Supporting / Nectar plants
The open, accessible umbels are a classic hoverfly flower, freely visited for nectar and pollen.
Boneset
Supporting / Nectar plants
Calendula (pot marigold)
Supporting / Nectar plants
Plants in the catalog
Plants this species pollinates · 2
Hoverflies are the visitor group most often overlooked on this kind of flower and are among the most numerous on it. A shallow open cyme with exposed nectaries suits a short mouthpart perfectly, and hoverflies are active in cool, part-shaded woodland-edge conditions where bee activity drops off - which is precisely the habitat this plant occupies. The larvae of many syrphids are aphid predators, so the same insects are working on the pest side of the garden as well.
Wikipedia names flies alongside bees among the pollinators, and the flower architecture explains why: a flat-topped cyme with tiny open flowers is the classic short-tongued-insect platform. Hoverflies are the most numerous of those visitors on shrub dogwoods, and their larvae are aphid predators, so the same plant is feeding an adult pollinator and subsidising pest control in the beds around it.
Nectar plants · 53
The open, accessible umbels are a classic hoverfly flower, freely visited for nectar and pollen.
Hoverflies are among the insects drawn to the open, nectar-rich flowerheads in summer, working them alongside the bees and butterflies.
Goldenrod flowers draw hoverflies and other flies among their pollinators; genus-level inference.
Hoverflies take nectar from the small, accessible flowers; their larvae are useful aphid predators, so the bloom helps draw beneficial insects into the border.
Hoverflies are common visitors to early, open, accessible flower clusters like these.
Hover flies and other generalist flower visitors also feed at the open golden heads early in the season.
Hoverflies are constant visitors to the flat, open daisy flower, taking both nectar and pollen from the exposed disc; their larvae are useful aphid predators in the garden.
Hoverflies are frequent visitors to the small, open, easily accessed flowers, and their larvae also prey on the spindle's aphid colonies - a double link to this shrub.
Hoverflies (whose larvae eat aphids) are drawn to the open, flat flower heads - a key reason yarrow is grown as a beneficial-insect 'insectary' plant.
Hoverflies are frequent visitors to small, open, easily accessed tree flowers like these in spring.
Short-tongued hoverflies readily feed at the open, shallow florets of the pincushion heads; their larvae are useful aphid predators in the surrounding meadow or border.
Hoverflies visit the open flowers for nectar and pollen; their larvae are useful aphid predators, so the long bloom supports beneficial insects as well as bees.
Hoverflies (Syrphidae) are among the documented visitors to Astrantia major's open, accessible florets alongside the beetles noted as primary pollinators in Wikipedia.
Pollen plants · 5
Hoverflies are common visitors to the broad, easily accessed cistus blooms.
Syrphidae are named on the Wikipedia visitor list, together with dance flies in the Empididae, which have no entry in this wildlife catalog and are recorded here in prose instead. Hoverflies are pollen feeders as adults and predators of aphids as larvae, so a flowering viburnum in a shaded bed feeds both halves of that life cycle - Wikipedia also notes that the plant attracts aphids.
Hoverflies feed at exactly this kind of flat exposed cyme and are abundant in May, which puts them among the likely visitors. The entry earns its place for a second reason: syrphid larvae are aphid predators, so the same flowers that feed the adults help keep the shrub layer around them clean.
Hoverflies are part of the documented European visitor community, with the long-snouted Rhingia rostrata specifically recorded - Rhingia is the one syrphid genus built to reach nectar at the bottom of a deep tube, and it does not yet have its own entry in this catalog, so it is named here rather than wired. The North American picture is the part worth carrying away: a yellow flag monoculture is not a pollinator planting. It replaces a diverse marsh flora with one clone of one species flowering for about six weeks, and the correct wildlife-value comparison is against what it displaced, not against bare ground.
Range
Cosmopolitan family with nearly 900 species across North America; specific species depend on region and habitat.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Hover flies (flower flies) (Syrphidae). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/syrphid-flies
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
Wikipedia: Syrphidae
Family reference for hover-fly taxonomy, worldwide distribution, adult nectar/pollen feeding, pollination, and aphid-feeding larvae.
UC IPM: Hover flies
Integrated-pest-management source for hover-fly larvae as aphid predators and adults as flower visitors that use nectar and pollen.
GBIF: Syrphidae
GBIF match with rank family returns an EXACT accepted hit for the family Syrphidae (Diptera) at usageKey 6920.
iNaturalist: Syrphidae
iNaturalist taxon 49995 is the family Syrphidae, the hover flies, at family rank.