Ode to the Hover Fly

Fiz 6/29/2017, 10:40 pm

While in the garden, I watched in awe as a hover fly moved speedily and gracefully from plant to plant, looking for flowers or some tasty pests to eat. It didn't seem to find anything it liked, but it hung around for quite a while. I thought it was a bee at first since they have similar markings. I loved watching it zoom from one plant to the next, checking it quickly while hovering in mid-air like a humming bird and then dashing off to the next one. It inspired me to write a little poem about it. Cool

Ode to the Hover Fly

Oh, little hover fly, zipping to and fro,
you move about like a helicopter,
always on the go.

Oh, little hover fly, looking for a pest,
you are my new favorite beneficial,
I like you the very best.

Oh, little hover fly, graceful as can be,
I hope you fly on back again
and come to visit me.

**sanderson** 6/30/2017, 1:00 am

Love my hover flies, especially for pollinating cucumbers and cantaloupe.

CapeCoddess 6/30/2017, 2:09 pm

Fiz wrote:

Ode to the Hover Fly

Oh, little hover fly, zipping to and fro,
you move about like a helicopter,
always on the go.

Oh, little hover fly, looking for a pest,
you are my new favorite beneficial,
I like you the very best.

Oh, little hover fly, graceful as can be,
I hope you fly on back again
and come to visit me.

OMG...that's adorable!!!
way to go

CC

Fiz 6/30/2017, 8:31 pm

Haha, thanks CC! I used to write poems a lot when I was younger. Every once in a while I find a reason to whip one up, lol!

**donnainzone5** 6/30/2017, 8:35 pm

The ones I've seen are not so little.

Fiz 6/30/2017, 8:49 pm

I actually saw a baby one on the street car the day before. It was like a little yellow circle just suspended in mid air in front of me, lol. It was quite bizarre. I just blew on it and it flew away.

The one I saw in the garden was the size of a small honey bee, I'd say.

**donnainzone5** 6/30/2017, 8:59 pm

The ones I saw gathering nectar from my daffodils this spring looked like a cross between a gigantic honey bee and a hummingbird.

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/3/2017, 2:26 pm

Here's one of my small hover flies, perched on a cucumber tendril.
Ode to the Hover Fly Img_9110

**Scorpio Rising** 7/3/2017, 3:41 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:
Fiz wrote:

Ode to the Hover Fly

Oh, little hover fly, zipping to and fro,
you move about like a helicopter,
always on the go.

Oh, little hover fly, looking for a pest,
you are my new favorite beneficial,
I like you the very best.

Oh, little hover fly, graceful as can be,
I hope you fly on back again
and come to visit me.

OMG...that's adorable!!!

CC

I love it!!!!! Are these what we called sweat bees growing up?

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/3/2017, 5:14 pm

Scorpio Rising wrote:
CapeCoddess wrote:
Fiz wrote:

Ode to the Hover Fly

Oh, little hover fly, zipping to and fro,
you move about like a helicopter,
always on the go.

Oh, little hover fly, looking for a pest,
you are my new favorite beneficial,
I like you the very best.

Oh, little hover fly, graceful as can be,
I hope you fly on back again
and come to visit me.

OMG...that's adorable!!!

CC
I love it!!!!! Are these what we called sweat bees growing up?

There are actual bees called sweat bees: http://bugguide.net/node/view/128/bgpage
But hover flies also get called sweat bees (instead of sweat flies) because they are cute and colored like little bees.

Fiz 7/3/2017, 8:21 pm

Nice pic Beetles! You've either got great photography skills, an awesome camera, or both, lol!

**Scorpio Rising** 7/3/2017, 9:17 pm

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
Scorpio Rising wrote:
CapeCoddess wrote:
Fiz wrote:

Ode to the Hover Fly

Oh, little hover fly, zipping to and fro,
you move about like a helicopter,
always on the go.

Oh, little hover fly, looking for a pest,
you are my new favorite beneficial,
I like you the very best.

Oh, little hover fly, graceful as can be,
I hope you fly on back again
and come to visit me.

OMG...that's adorable!!!

CC
I love it!!!!! Are these what we called sweat bees growing up?
There are actual bees called sweat bees: http://bugguide.net/node/view/128/bgpage
But hover flies also get called sweat bees (instead of sweat flies) because they are cute and colored like little bees.

I think these that I am thinking of and are still around are really cute little bees....but I see the difference now!

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