🐞✗ Tested and false“Hoverflies can sting or bite because they look like wasps and bees”
Hoverflies have no sting at all, and don't bite. The yellow-and-black banding that makes them look like a wasp or bee is mimicry for self-defence against birds and other predators, not a warning about a weapon they actually carry. Around 280 of Britain's hoverfly species show some version of this wasp or bee lookalike pattern.
Our read The mimicry is so convincing that people swat or spray hoverflies on sight, which removes a pest predator and a pollinator for nothing: there's no sting behind the costume.
What to do: Let hoverflies be. If you need to tell them apart from a wasp in a hurry, look at the wings: a hoverfly has one pair, a wasp has two.
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- RHS: HoverfliesHoverflies do not bite or sting, despite many species mimicking the black-and-yellow banding of wasps and bees.
“Adult hoverflies, not just their larvae, eat aphids in the garden”
Adult hoverflies feed on nectar and pollen, not aphids, using mouthparts adapted for dabbing at open flowers. It's the larval stage that does the pest control: around 40% of Britain's hoverfly species have larvae that hunt aphids, ranking them alongside ladybirds for how much they reduce aphid numbers, and the same larvae also take other sap-suckers such as whitefly and leafhoppers.
Our read The confusion is understandable because the adult is the life stage people actually notice hovering over a flower bed. The pest control is happening lower down and earlier, from a small, often overlooked maggot-like larva living among the aphid colony itself.
What to do: Don't judge an infested plant by whether adult hoverflies are visiting it. Check the stems for hoverfly larvae before reaching for a spray, since they may already be working through the aphids.
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- RHS: HoverfliesAdult hoverflies feed on nectar, while roughly 40% of British hoverfly species have larvae that prey on aphids and other sap-sucking insects, making them as important as ladybirds for aphid control.
“Hoverflies are only useful for eating aphids, not for pollination”
Hoverflies rank as the second most important pollinator group after bees, visiting over half of food crops worldwide and more than 70% of animal-pollinated wild plants. Hoverfly distribution in the UK also fell 44% between 1980 and 2022, so the pollination role is both substantial and under pressure.
Our read This makes hoverflies unusual among garden helpers: the same planting decision that draws them in for aphid control is also doing real pollination work, rather than the two roles requiring separate plants.
What to do: Treat hoverfly-friendly planting as pollinator planting too. A bed built around flat, open flowers for hoverflies is also feeding a second, declining pollinator group alongside bees.
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- RHS: Plants for HoverfliesCiting a government report, hoverflies are the second most important pollinators after bees, visiting over 50% of food crops worldwide and over 70% of animal-pollinated wild plants; UK hoverfly distribution declined 44% from 1980 to 2022.
“Clearing every aphid off a plant helps hoverflies do their job”
Tolerating aphids on some plants helps because hoverfly larvae need a live aphid colony to feed on. Removing every aphid on sight, whether by hand or spray, takes away the larval food source that keeps the predator population going from one generation to the next.
What to do: Pick one or two sacrificial plants, or a patch you're less fussy about, and leave the aphids there for hoverfly larvae to work through, while removing aphids by hand on plants where you can't tolerate any damage.
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- RHS: HoverfliesAdvises tolerating aphids on some plants, since hoverfly larvae rely on live aphid colonies as their food source.
“Some flowers attract hoverflies far more effectively than others”
Hoverflies favour flat, open flowers where nectar and pollen sit on an accessible surface, since their mouthparts dab rather than probe. Guelder rose, blackberry, phacelia, heather and ivy are particularly effective, spanning spring through late autumn so hoverflies have forage across the whole season rather than a single summer peak.
What to do: Plant for the full season rather than one big summer display: guelder rose or blackberry for spring and early summer, phacelia and heather through summer into autumn, and ivy left to flower for the late-season gap when little else is blooming.
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- RHS: Plants for HoverfliesGuelder rose, blackberry, phacelia, heather and ivy are named as top plants for hoverflies because their flat, open flowers hold nectar and pollen on an accessible surface.
- Garden Organic: Companion or mixed plantingDiverse flowering plants grown alongside crops support beneficial insects including hoverflies as part of an ecosystem-based approach to pest management.
