Posts Tagged: flies

Say 'Hi' to a Fly on a Friday

If you stand perfectly still and don't make any jerky movements, you can usually get a close-up image of a black syrphid fly, a Mexican...

A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, Apis mellifera, on a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, Apis mellifera, on a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Today's Honorary Bee Image Award Goes to...a Fly

Today's Honorary Bee Image Award goes to...drum roll...an image of a humble hoverfly appearing on the National Geographic Facebook page. The...

A National Geographic Facebook image shows a hover fly masquerading as a bee.

A National Geographic Facebook image shows a hover fly masquerading as a bee.

A drone fly, Eristalis tenax, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. It is often mistaken for a bee. Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A drone fly, Eristalis tenax, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. It is often mistaken for a bee. Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, Apis mellifera, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, Apis mellifera, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Syrphid Flies Are Pollinators, Too

Sometimes overlooked as pollinators are the syrphid flies, also known as "hover flies" or "flower flies." Unfortunately, they are often mistaken for...

A dorsal view of a syprhid fly sunning itself on a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A dorsal view of a syprhid fly sunning itself on a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The syprhid fly senses danger and slips under a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The syprhid fly senses danger and slips under a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Charlotte Alberts and Those Fascinating Assassin Flies

Oh, the common names that insects bear...murder hornets, killer bees, cow killers, biting lice, assassin flies...if only those insects knew the...

An assassin fly sketched by UC Davis doctoral alumna Charlotte Herbert Alberts, who is both an entomologist and an artist. (Copyrighted image by Charlotte Alberts, used with permission)

An assassin fly sketched by UC Davis doctoral alumna Charlotte Herbert Alberts, who is both an entomologist and an artist. (Copyrighted image by Charlotte Alberts, used with permission)

Geoffrey Attardo: Seminar on Mating Biology of Tsetse Flies

Did you know that tsetse flies give birth to live offspring? That's just one of the facts that UC Davis medical...

Mating tsetse flies. (Photo by Geoffrey Attardo, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology)

Mating tsetse flies. (Photo by Geoffrey Attardo, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology)

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