# Yellow Jacket Hoverfly



## Rick (Jul 12, 2009)

These guys invaded my compost bin. I found the gigantic maggots and the pupa. I brought some of the pupa in and two of them hatched overnight.


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## revmdn (Jul 12, 2009)

Are they good for feeding to mantids?


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## Rick (Jul 12, 2009)

revmdn said:


> Are they good for feeding to mantids?


Sure. That's where they are headed.


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## Katnapper (Jul 12, 2009)

The "tails" (stinger mimic?) on the pupae are really interesting! When they come out do they have appendages that look like stingers at the back end?


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## Rick (Jul 12, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> The "tails" (stinger mimic?) on the pupae are really interesting! When they come out do they have appendages that look like stingers at the back end?


When I first saw them in the bin I thought they were poop. But I soon realized what they were. They are a pretty good bee mimic. They don't have anything that resembles a stinger.


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 12, 2009)

Rick, do they bite like the wasps? and these are not yellow jackets but some kind of fly?


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## Rick (Jul 12, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> Rick, do they bite like the wasps? and these are not yellow jackets but some kind of fly?


No. They feed on nectar and pollinate plants. They are hoverflies that mimic yellow jackets to fool predators.


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## hierodula (Jul 12, 2009)

Rick said:


> These guys invaded my compost bin. I found the gigantic maggots and the pupa. I brought some of the pupa in and two of them hatched overnight.


are you going to breed them :huh: if you do, good luck


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## jameslongo (Jul 12, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> The "tails" (stinger mimic?) on the pupae are really interesting! When they come out do they have appendages that look like stingers at the back end?


The stinger-like appendage could well be a breathing apparatus.


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## ABbuggin (Jul 12, 2009)

Oh wow. Do you have more? I'd be interested in haveing some pupae.


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## Rick (Jul 13, 2009)

ABbuggin said:


> Oh wow. Do you have more? I'd be interested in haveing some pupae.


Plenty.

Someone asked if I was going to breed them, No. They will be fed to mantids or released.


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## superfreak (Jul 13, 2009)

thats a really good mimic! id be interested to see some that are fully emerged.


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## ismart (Jul 13, 2009)

They make great mantis food  .


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## Rick (Jul 13, 2009)

superfreak said:


> thats a really good mimic! id be interested to see some that are fully emerged.


There are two in the pic.


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## ABbuggin (Jul 13, 2009)

Rick said:


> Plenty. Someone asked if I was going to breed them, No. They will be fed to mantids or released.


Pm sent! I like hover flies a lot, especially for taking pics. I may try breeding them just for fun, I know a few things about their life cycle.


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## superfreak (Jul 14, 2009)

Rick said:


> There are two in the pic.


pardon me, i thought they were only partially emerged - the abdomen is hard to see. ah well!


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## robo mantis (Jul 19, 2009)

Hover flys are just like mantids. They are very beneficial! They lay eggs in the middle of aphid colonies and their larva each something like 50 aphids a day! I saw some hovering on my bushes and i saw aphid colonies, and they always damage my plants every year. But the hover flies layed eggs this year and no more aphids!


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## PhilinYuma (Jul 19, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> The stinger-like appendage could well be a breathing apparatus.


Just saw this thread. Yeah, the "rat tail" acts like a snorkel for some species that live under water or in a very wet substrate like manure. The larvae of a lot of these flies are insectivorous, though.


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## Rick (Jul 19, 2009)

robo mantis said:


> Hover flys are just like mantids. They are very beneficial! They lay eggs in the middle of aphid colonies and their larva each something like 50 aphids a day! I saw some hovering on my bushes and i saw aphid colonies, and they always damage my plants every year. But the hover flies layed eggs this year and no more aphids!


Thats now what these were eating. They are crawling around in a big mass of rotting vegetable matter.


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## robo mantis (Jul 21, 2009)

Oh ok I must have been thinking of the other kind of hoverfly. I have smaller ones and they kill aphids.


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## aje88 (Jul 21, 2009)

so can you like hold them and they wont kill you.


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## yeatzee (Jul 21, 2009)

aje88 said:


> so can you like hold them and they wont kill you.


Flies aren't the most tolerable insects for being held  :lol: 

And no, no flies (afaik) can kill you so no worries  :lol:


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## Rick (Jul 21, 2009)

aje88 said:


> so can you like hold them and they wont kill you.


Yes, it is a fly. Even if it was a bee it wouldn't kill me.


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## ismart (Jul 21, 2009)

aje88 said:


> so can you like hold them and they wont kill you.


Do you mean like being stung? If so then the answer is no. They are flies not bees/wasps. The point is to mimic bees/wasps so normal predators of flies will mistaken them for bees/wasps and leave them alone.


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