According to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), hoverflies are the second most important pollinator after bees. The insects, which are also food for birds, contribute to the breakdown of gardens’ organic matter. However, BBOWT and RHS have revealed that hoverfly populations have declined as a result of intensive agriculture, pesticides, and climate change.
In 2022, hoverflies were put on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species. Now, experts are urging gardeners to protect the stingless insects,which are commonly mistaken for wasps, bees, or hornets. Andy Coulson-Phillips, BBOWT’s principal ecologist, said: “Hoverflies are a tiny but essential part of the natural world.
“They are vital for pollinating both wildflowers and garden plants alike, so we’d love everyone across our three counties to invite them into their gardens or outside space.”
Hoverflies have one pair of flight wings unlike bees and wasps which have two. Some common species include Batman, Footballer, and Marmalade, named after their markings and colours. However, it is easier to identify them by their behaviour, as they hover or zigzag around plants, BBC reports.
They can be found in various habitats including gardens, woodlands, wetlands, and urban environments. Additionally, they can be found in rotting wood, as dead wood habitat has become uncommon, so have some species.
Vicki Hird, a strategic agriculture lead for The Wildlife Trusts, described hoverflies as the “hidden heroes of our gardens and countrysides.” She emphasised that regardless of their “shape, size, or disguise” hoverflies are “critical for our food security”.
With the insect population under severe threat, experts want people to do their part. The RHS’s senior wildlife specialist, Helen Bostock, shared that the gardening charity wants people to “open their garden gates to hoverflies this summer.”
She said: “Gardeners can help attract them by planting open, easily accessible flowers. In spring, they’ll be drawn to aubretia. In summer, they’ll love blackberry flowers, oxeye daisy, marigolds, fennel, cow parsley and poppies. Come autumn, they can be seen on heather, aster, and even common ivy.”
