EASY METHODS TO GET RID OF HOVERFLIES
If your garden or home is infested by small to medium-sized honeybees or wasps like flying insects hovering from one flower or plant to another. Are they not letting you sit and relax in your garden (or home). You are in luck because we will tell you How you can get rid of hoverflies.
Some practical and proven ways to repel these hoverflies far away from your surroundings. But before weeding out these hoverflies, you should know a few things about them.
A short introduction to hoverflies
Hoverflies are known by the names flower flies and syrphid flies. They are often seen in our surroundings, hovering over flowers or plants. They’re sometimes called corn flies because there’s usually an infestation in corn fields where the larvae feast on aphids.
They look very similar to honeybees and wasps, but unlike them, hoverflies do not sting or bite. Flies are pretty much harmless to humans and every other animal on earth. Hoverflies are attracted to flowers because of their need for nectar and pollen. Hoverflies use nectar as a food source, and female hoverflies use pollen for ovarian growth.
There are over 6,000 species of hoverflies, and they are widespread insects on every continent (except Antarctica). The size of the hoverflies varies according to their species. Most species of hoverfly live up to 25 days only. Human sweat contains essential salts that attract many insects, including hoverflies. You may have a hoverfly land on you; it’s only doing so for the salt and with no intention of harming you.
Difference between hoverflies and honeybee/wasps
Because of the similarity in appearance between honeybees and hoverflies, many people mistake hoverflies for honeybees. The last honeybee you saw on the flowers hovering might have been a hoverfly.
Hoverflies hover near the flowers, whereas honeybees and wasps fly between the flowers.
Hoverflies only have one set of wings, but honeybees and wasps have two sets of wings. However, it is challenging to see the number of wings when flying, so this method to differentiate between hoverflies and honeybees is tricky.
- Hoverflies tend to stay still a little longer than honeybees and wasps.
- Hoverflies don’t sting or bite, but honeybees and wasps do.
- Most of the time, hoverflies are less fluffy and cuter than honeybees.
Are hoverflies important?
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male part of the plant (anther) to the female part (stigma). This process helps the plants fertilize and produce seeds to stay in existence. Wind, animals, and insects such as hoverflies, honeybees, and wasps, help plants with pollination.
“When people talk about pollinators, they often think of the domesticated honeybee that has been part of our lives for thousands of years. Hoverflies, in contrast, don’t have this history, and bees often get undue credit from the casual observer as many hoverfly species are easily mistaken for bees,”
said Karl Wotton, a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter’s College of Life and Environmental Sciences.
Honeybees and hoverflies both play a vital role in the environment, and we need both. Neither bees nor hoverflies can fulfil the pollination capacity alone needed to sustain agriculture.
Hoverflies also play an essential role in protecting our lovely plants from pests. The larvae of hoverflies feed on aphids, animal decay, thrips, and other plant-killing insects.
Should we kill hoverflies?
Because of the extreme importance of hoverflies in our ecosystem, we should not kill them. They help the gardeners with pest control, help plants with pollination, and much more. Instead of killing them, we can repel them far away from our garden or house by using the simple methods below.
How you can get rid of hoverflies quickly?
Hoverflies are essential, but having them flying around in your home or conservatory is annoying. If they increase in number too much, they will not let you sit and relax in your garden. Sometimes, it is crucial to get rid of hoverflies.
How to get rid of hoverflies in the conservatory
If you are in your conservatory, hoverflies are there, annoying you, and you want to get rid of them by using electric fans. Install some fans in your greenhouse and turn them on. It will disrupt the conservatory’s airflow and make hoverflies leave your place. You can always turn on the fan if the hoverfly shows up again and turn it off after the flyleaves.
How to get rid of hoverflies present inside the house
It will not be easy to live with hoverflies. No one wants hoverflies to disturb them while they are reading, cooking, relaxing, or doing anything at home. But it will be hard to push the hoverfly away from the open windows. So, you might have to use some lethal methods to get rid of hoverflies now.
You can get rid of hoverflies the same way you can get rid of houseflies, fruit flies, etcetera.
Ways to get rid of hoverflies present indoors:
Fly tape traps
Hoverflies are naturally attracted to sweet smells, like houseflies. They are attracted to garbage, rotting, and sugary substances. You can make a fly tape trap yourself to catch hoverflies yourself. Cover a sheet of paper with tape and glue so that anything that falls on it will get stuck. Attach some sugar pieces to this sheet and hang it inside the room.
Hoverflies will lure hoverflies undefined this trap and get glued to it. Later, after use, you can take this trap and throw it far away from your home. You can also buy fly tape traps online from Amazon.com.
Flytrap made of sugar water
In this trap, you take some water in a bowl and dissolve some sugar. Then cover this bowl with a plastic sheet and poke some holes. Flies will get inside these holes because they are attracted to sugar and get trapped within them.
You can place insect-eating plants in your house like Venus fly traps, which will attract insects like hoverflies undefined them and eat them.
You should use these methods only in desperate times when things get wrong because they will be responsible for hoverflies.
Ways to get rid of hoverflies in the garden:-
If the populations of hoverflies in your garden have increased much and are starting to cause trouble, then it is time to repel them or attract them to some other place far from your garden.
Using hoverfly repellent
You can quickly get some of the best hoverfly repellents online on e-commerce sites like amazon.com, but they might contain some chemicals that may harm you or your plants. So use them with precautions. We will advise you to make your hoverfly and insect repellent from natural ingredients found in your home.
Mixing soap, vinegar, and water, you can make a hoverfly repellent. Put all these together, put the mixture in a spray bottle, and spray it in the infected area. It will repel the hoverfly and other insects to some other place far away from your garden or house.
Removal of flowers from infested areas
Hoverflies are attracted to beautiful flowers because of their fragrances and because they get nectar from them as their food source to get energy. Female hoverflies use pollen from flowers to produce eggs. Hoverflies may leave your garden and stop bothering you if you remove the flowering plants and plant them elsewhere. You can grow some flower plants far away from your garden, where they can get food. They may move there permanently and leave you and your precious plants alone in peace.
Keep your garden pest-free.
We know that hoverflies and their larvae eat tiny pests in our garden. If the pests increase in our garden, they will attract hoverflies, degrade, and eat our crops and plants. It is essential to keep our garden pest-free.
Conclusion
Hoverflies may irritate us, but they are essential to our ecosystem. They have a considerable contribution to make in maintaining the ecosystem. They guard our plants against pesticides. They help plants with pollination and much more in various ways. We can keep them away from us, but we should avoid killing them.
Hoverflies may look like wasps or bees but don’t bite or sting. These are just some flies hovering around. These methods given above in the article will help you get rid of hoverflies, honeybees, and wasps.
All the methods given should only be used if there is a severe problem because these insects benefit your garden.
I hope you liked the article, thank you!
Hoverflies are naturally attracted to sweet smells, like honey