We studied the effects of wing deformation on the aerodynamic forces of wings of hovering hoverflies by solving the Navier-Stokes equations on a dynamically deforming grid, employing the recently measured wing deformation data of hoverflies in free-flight. Three hoverflies were considered. By taking out the camber deformation and the spanwise twist deformation one by one and by comparing the re...

Most hovering insects flap their wings in a horizontal plane (body having a large angle from the horizontal), called `normal hovering'. But some of the best hoverers, e.g. true hoverflies, hover with an inclined stroke plane (body being approximately horizontal). In the present paper, wing and body kinematics of four freely hovering true hoverflies were measured using three-dimensional high-spe...

With more than 80% of flowering plant species specialized for animal pollination, understanding how wild pollinators utilize resources across environments can encourage efficient planting and maintenance strategies to maximize pollination and establish resilience in the face of environmental change. A fundamental question is how generalist pollinators recognize "flower objects" in vastly differ...

Flower visiting Eristalis hoverflies feed on nectar and pollen and are known to rely on innate colour preferences. In addition to a preference for visiting yellow flowers, the flies possess an innate proboscis reflex elicited by chemical as well as yellow colour stimuli. In this study we show that the flies' proboscis reflex is only triggered by yellow colour stimuli and not altered by conditio...

Abstract Conservation biological control could be an alternative to insecticides for the management of aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer). To develop sustainable strategies M. in peach orchards Mediterranean, a 2-yr field experiment was conducted identify key predators aphid; determine whether proximity insectary plants boost natural enemies comparison resident vegetation; and selected enhance enemy...

We tested the prediction that, if hoverflies are Batesian mimics, this may extend to behavioral mimicry such that their numerical abundance at each hour of the day (the daily activity pattern) is related to the numbers of their hymenopteran models. After accounting for site, season, microclimatic responses, and general hoverfly abundance at three sites in northwestern England, the residual numb...

during 2010–2011, a faunistic study of the family syrphidae was carried out in torbat heydarie, roshtkhar and khaf (razavi khorasan province), northeastern iran. among the collected specimens, we found two species, paragus gussakovskii bańkowska and platycheirus immarginatus zetterstedt which are new records for the fauna of iran.

nasonovia ribisnigri (mosely) is one of the most important pests of the lettuce plant and it was reported for the first time in ahvaz in 2008. in order to investigate the dominant species of its natural enemies and their population fluctuations, sample were taken arbitrarily from fifty plants twice a week during the growing season in 2010-2012. in this study, ten species of predators, three spe...

Tracking moving targets is essential for animals that pursue prey or conspecifics. Recent studies in male and female hoverflies have described classes of neurons that detect the movements of small targets against a moving background but the mechanisms generating their responses remain unclear.