Watch a hover fly larva eat the aphids on my cucumbers

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Hover flies (Syrphidae) are common insects in gardens. We see them flying around flowers hovering in mid-air like little helicopters. The adult hover flies feed on nectar and pollen and are important pollinators.
Hover fly larvae are ferocious aphid-eating maggots. Hover fly larvae are the most effective aphid predators in my garden. They can be a bit hard to see, especially when they are in their early larval stages, but a hand lens of some sort will help.
I hope you enjoy the video. I am trying something a bit different with this one. I'm not in it!
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Опубликовано:

18 мар 2023

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Комментарии : 31

@oneminutebugs Год назад

I've wanted to shoot some decent footage of hover fly larvae for ages. I hope you enjoy the video. Let me know what you think!

@allegrosotto2126 Год назад

Fascinating, great footage. I can see though how easy it would be for a novice gardener to mistakenly kill the larvae blaming it for the leaf damage. Observation before action is my motto.

@oneminutebugs Год назад

Thanks for your comment. Well said!

@MRTOMBO 7 месяцев назад

If you put a Praying mantis egg sac (Ootheca) in there, when it hatches you'll have hundreds and hundreds of tiny Mantis nymphs srip every aphid out of there in no time. Many years ago i had a rose bush that was looking awful, and on closer inspection it was absolutely covered in aphids. I happened to find a praying mantis egg sac glued to the bottom of a branch on a nearby bush. I cut the branch section off, put it in a jar, and one day coming home from work I saw the inside of the jar was covered in tiny nymphs, many still exiting the egg sac. Shook them out on the rose bush and I watched in glee as the tiny nymphs dropped onto leaves and such, took a moment to orient, then INSTANTLY started grabbing aphids. Fun stuff.

@oneminutebugs 7 месяцев назад

Great comments! Yes, mantid nymphs are predators from the get go!

@russellbanfield1704 Год назад

Amazing footage, Thanks for another interesting part of our world.

@oneminutebugs Год назад

Thanks Russell. Been trying to get this shot for ages!

@MBNZT2022 Год назад

Thanks Denis - as usually a great video!

@oneminutebugs Год назад

Glad you enjoyed it!

@charliekezza 11 месяцев назад

Hover fly just randomly wakes up one day with wings and eyes.

@oneminutebugs 11 месяцев назад

Thanks for watching and commenting on so many of my videos!

@charliekezza 11 месяцев назад

@@oneminutebugs all good. I love the vids and noticed your a small channel so even if I don't have much to say I do it for the algorithm lol

@oneminutebugs 11 месяцев назад

@@charliekezzaThanks so much! Hopefully one day my tiny channel will be a bit bigger. 🙂

@thisearththeonlyheaven Год назад

Plenty of aphids in my garden atm, and I have seen large hoverflies(?) flying around infestations. I will have a closer look for any larvae, but ladybirds might clean up the aphids first.

@oneminutebugs Год назад

Yes! Sometimes there is great competition!

@SPIOoner 5 месяцев назад

GREAT IDEA! go ahead and make wheres waldo amurs about hover flie larvae

@oneminutebugs 5 месяцев назад

🤣

@jeffreysokal7264 7 месяцев назад

Great video. these fellows aren't as good at eating aphids, I think, as lacewing or lady beetle larvae. You should be able to purchase them locally and help prevent the damage the aphids do.

@oneminutebugs 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for commenting!

@noroiko7996 7 месяцев назад

My murnong was invested with aphids and I pucked them off manually until now they're pretty rare. I do remember there were small fly larvae amongst them, and I've seen hover flies visit. I wonder if they were hover fly larvae and if I inadvertantly destroyed their food source 😰 (I only have a balcony, so not a lot of plants. Manually squishing aphids was pretty manageable).

@oneminutebugs 7 месяцев назад

They probably were hover fly larvae, but if you didn't know..... 🙂

@noroiko7996 7 месяцев назад

@@oneminutebugs Oh... 😢

@oneminutebugs 7 месяцев назад

@@noroiko7996 Not to worry. All good next time! 🙂

@VictorFursov 8 месяцев назад

Funny video and story. Thank you.😮😮😮😊😊😊

@oneminutebugs 8 месяцев назад

Thanks!

@theshuman100 7 месяцев назад

honestly amazing predation still manages for completely blind animals. just a big ol game of chance they bumo into a meal and yet the chances are good

@oneminutebugs 7 месяцев назад

It's incredible watching them! 🙂

@Chris-op7yt 7 месяцев назад

unless it's very close to end of season, should get on top of the aphid infestation...which is not going to happen with predators. you get better space management and it's easier to pick up problems, if you grow the cucumbers vertically up support. i use garden stakes and a commercial poly netting designed for it, using zip ties to attach to stakes. nice close-up video

@oneminutebugs 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for commenting. My background is in IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and agricultural and horticultural entomology.The purpose of the video was to introduce people to hover fly larvae and how they operate. Most people are unaware of them (obviously you are 🙂). I allowed the aphid infestation to get to that stage so I could get lots of images and footage. The purpose of my channel is education about insects, not necessarily pest control. Took ages to get that close up footage!

@Chris-op7yt 7 месяцев назад

@@oneminutebugs : at end of last warm season my very last eggplants were thick with aphids, and lots of ladybug nymphs. even the fruit. luckily fruit was not blemished from the infestation. the cool conditions helped the aphids thrive. completely unrelated, but very impressive, was David Attenborough's Hummingbird doco, just watched. Amazing filmography and birds.