Big eyed bugs and hover flies?

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mlm01 St. Louis, MO(Zone 5b) Jul 10, 2006

Can anyone post pics of big eyed bugs and hover flies? I'm trying to ID some of the bugs around my plants before I wage any war on them.

I also tried to get pics but all I have is a camera phone and the pics are very blurry and really bad.

Thanks,

Maureen

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fly_girl The Woodlands, TX(Zone 8b) Jul 11, 2006

Here's a Big-Eyed Bug, they are a good bug

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fly_girl The Woodlands, TX(Zone 8b) Jul 11, 2006

Here's a Hover Fly

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ceejaytown The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a) Jul 11, 2006

Mim - That big eyed bug is very, very small. I don't have the exact size at hand, but it is small. There are many species of hover fly, some look more like bees, some look more like wasps. If you google and then look at "images", you will see some of the varieties. One of the things that distinguish a hover fly is its habit of "hovering" over a flower where it dines on pollen and nectar. Its babies are the predators that dine on aphids and some other soft-bodies insects. So you'll want a photo of them too. They don't have legs, because they are maggots. (Larvae of flies are maggots.) You will find them, and the larvae of lady beetles and green lacewings among aphid colonies, usually. Again, a google is worth a thousand words... Google green lacewing too.....

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mlm01 St. Louis, MO(Zone 5b) Jul 11, 2006

Fly_girl,

Thanks very much for the pictures, helps alot! I thought they were both beneficial, and I think I may just have the hover flies, I hope so.

Ceejaytown, I will take your suggestion and try to find a pic of the larvae. I have never seen any aphids so I'm wondering if I'm blessed here and haven't realized it.

Thanks again,

Maureen

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ceejaytown The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a) Jul 11, 2006

Oh, mim, I don't think that anyone is that blessed.

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ceejaytown The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a) Jul 11, 2006

Here is a photo of a greenlacewing adult and the larva. Good guys, the larva is found among aphid colonies.

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ceejaytown The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a) Jul 11, 2006

This is a hover fly larva. Those are aphids it is eating. I have also seen these in a yellowish and a tan color. Depends on the species.

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ceejaytown The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a) Jul 12, 2006

And this is a ladybug larva, just in case you were not familiar with it.

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