Pollination is a key ecosystem service, and appropriate management, particularly in agricultural systems, is essential to maintain a diversity of pollinator guilds. However, management recommendations frequently focus on maintaining plant communities, with the assumption that associated invertebrate populations will be sustained. We tested whether plant community, flower resources, and soil moi...

Two experiments were performed in the laboratory to understand the relationships between oviposition preference and larval performance of the two predatory hoverfly species, Episyrphus balteatus de Geer and Metasyrphus corollae Fabricius. We first conducted laboratory experiments to understand the nature and relative strengths of intraguild predation between the larvae of three ladybird species...

Estimating relative velocity in the natural environment is challenging because natural scenes vary greatly in contrast and spatial structure. Widely accepted correlation-based models for elementary motion detectors (EMDs) are sensitive to contrast and spatial structure and consequently generate ambiguous estimates of velocity. Identified neurons in the third optic lobe of the hoverfly can relia...

BACKGROUND The hoverfly Pseudodoros nigricollis Becker, 1903 is a rarely collected species, of which information on its distribution and ecology is poorly understood. NEW INFORMATION In this paper the first records of the hoverfly Pseudodoros nigricollis from Cyprus are provided and discussed. The discovery indicates that this Afrotropical species is approaching the European continent. Short ...

Here, we present a suite of photogrammetric methods for reconstructing insect wing kinematics, to provide instantaneous topographic maps of the wing surface. We filmed tethered locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) and free-flying hoverflies (Eristalis tenax) using four high-speed digital video cameras. We digitized multiple natural features and marked points on the wings using manual and automated t...

Pollinator-driven diversification is thought to be a major source of floral variation in plants. Our knowledge of this process is, however, limited to indirect assessments of evolutionary changes. Here, we employ experimental evolution with fast cycling Brassica rapa plants to demonstrate adaptive evolution driven by different pollinators. Our study shows pollinator-driven divergent selection a...

The effect of wing flexibility in hoverflies was investigated using an at-scale mechanical model. Unlike dynamically-scaled models, an at-scale model can include all phenomena related to motion and deformation of the wing during flapping. For this purpose, an at-scale polymer wing mimicking a hoverfly was fabricated using a custom micromolding process. The wing has venation and corrugation prof...

It is believed that the resemblance of many hoverflies to stinging hymenopterans is a case of Batesian mimicry, though there is little experimental evidence that it is effective in protecting them from predators. In this study the effectiveness of hoverfly mimicry was investigated for humans by presenting groups of university students and schoolchildren with a questionnaire which included pictu...

a survey was conducted on the fauna of the hover flies in northern iran in 2011. among the collected and identified material, the genus temnostoma le peletier & serville, 1828represented by a single species, t. vespiforme (linnaeus, 1758) is newly detected in iran. diagnostic characters and geographical distribution of the newly recorded species is briefly discussed.

Six new species of the myrmecophilous hoverfly genus Microdon Meigen (Diptera: Syrphidae) are described from Madagascar. Redescriptions are given for the three other Madagascan species of this genus. Keys are presented to the Madagascan genera of the subfamily Microdontinae and to the Madagascan species of Microdon.