Why Having Hoverflies on your Allotment Plot is Good News

Sadly, due to intensive agricultural practices, pesticide use, changes in land use and climate change, hoverfly numbers – as with most other insects globally - have declined steeply: populations have reduced by 44% since 1980 and they are now on the Red List of threatened species.

Although these statistics are concerning, the hoverfly’s short life span means there are opportunities for them to bounce back, just as they have declined. We can help them in our gardens and allotments by thinking about what we plant throughout the year. Some of the hoverfly’s favourite plants to feed on are aubretia, blackberry flowers, oxeye daisy, cosmos, marigolds, fennel, phacelia, cow parsley, ragwort, sunflower and poppies. Come autumn, they can be seen on heather and ivy.

Along with wild bees, moths and butterflies, wasps, flies and beetles, the humble hoverfly is a major pollinator of our fruit, vegetables flowers and trees. They are the second most significant pollinator after bees, visiting 72% of crops globally, either to pollinate or to eat leaf beetles and sap-sucking aphids. Their role as a natural means of pest control makes them very popular with gardeners. Many species lay their eggs near aphid populations, which provide a food source for their larvae feed on. They also pollinate wildflowers, are a food source for birds and help to break down organic matter, cycling nutrients back into the soil.

They are the unsung heroes of our ecosystems and critical for our food security. With around 270 different species of hoverfly in the UK, you can spot them in the garden or on your allotment between May and September. As many are brightly coloured, with many black and yellow markings, they are often mistaken for bees and wasps, but their distinctive hover and the way they zig-zag around plants makes them easy to identify.

As well as foraging sites, insects need breeding habitats. For hoverflies, this means leaving a wood pile, as the larvae of many hoverfly species feed on dead or decaying matter and prefer to live in damp or wet situations. It may also mean tolerating some aphids for the larvae of other species to feed on. These features, along with a compost heap and a pond will go a long way towards helping these amazing little insects to thrive. As some hoverflies breed on stagnant water you can also make a hoverfly lagoon, which is very straightforward.

Just following a few of these steps will make a huge difference to these very important but underappreciated pollinators and pest controllers!

All you need to know about hoverflies

How to make a hoverfly lagoon

Images by Martha Vigliotti