3-Minute Insect Essential #20 from the INSECT NEWS NETWORK

SYRPH’S UP: A Guide to Hover Flies and Beneficial Predators (Live Broadcast @ Philz Coffe in Berkeley) INN #20. To hear the full show, visit www.insectnewsnetwork.com and type in the number 20 - that's pound 20 in the search bar.

Some insects are soooo small that they have to literally swim through the air. Their body parts are so fragile that the viscosity of the very air we breathe forces them into an entirely different sort of aerodynamics.

Then there are others that seem to surf the airwaves just because they are having so much fun.

Those are the SYRPHIDAE, the hoverflies, one of the most playful and important beneficial pollinators in the world. There are hundreds of species, many of them that look like bees, but they don't sting and don't make honey. Their larvae are the top predators of aphids and other harmful insects and the adults are major pollinators.