Pollinators and Flies

FliesPollinators and Flies The Eyes of Flies

Diptera > Dipptera Index

The general public most probably would not associate flies as flower pollinators, yet many species of flies are attracted by both nectar and pollen. Unlike native bees, flies are not known to visit specific plant species, instead they are known to visit a variety of flowers.

Fly visitors from at least 71 families of Diptera have been recorded in the literature to flowers in 137 plant families (Larson et al., 2001). The families Syrphidae (hoverflies), Bombyliidae (bee flies), and the Muscidae are especially common as flower visitors.¹

Pollinators, Role of, Authors D.W. Inouye, J.E. Ogilvie, in Reference Module in Life Sciences, 2017, Muscidae, ScienceDirect

Just like native bees, flies that feed on nectar are also known to “bubble” the nectar. This “bubbling” is the term for the process of the expulsion of nectar to evaporate the moisture from the nectar, to condense it.

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Footnote & References

1. Pollinators, Role of, Authors D.W. Inouye, J.E. Ogilvie, in Reference Module in Life Sciences, 2017; Muscidae, ScienceDirect, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/muscidae
2. Fly, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly (last visited Feb. 12, 2022)
3. Diptera, Linnaeus, 1758, Flies, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/DIPTERA
4. Flies, CSIRO, https://www.csiro.au/en/research/animals/insects/flies-research
5. Phaonia tuguriorum, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/445506-Phaonia-tuguriorum
6. Phaonia tuguriorum, Shane Lear, ausemade, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/191843209
7. Flies blowing bubbles, 7 September 2020, Ray Cannon’s nature notes, Every picture tells a story, https://rcannon992.com/2020/09/07/flies-blowing-bubbles/

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FliesPollinators and Flies The Eyes of Flies

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