Episyrphus balteatus
lifepollinaction2023-05-03T10:20:12+02:00Episyrphus balteatus โ๏ธ๐ณ๐ธ A little air acrobat It's a little Diptera from the Syrphid family. It is completely harmless and has the shape of a fly but, like most of the Syrphids, it imitates the much more dangerous wasps as a defense strategy. In fact, the abdomen is orange with narrow black bands. Episyrphus adults feed on nectar and pollen grains which they crush with their front legs. Thus they promote the pollination of many plants The larvae, on the other hand, are predators of aphids and caterpillars: they devour up to 200 of them during development! Sometimes the adults [...]