Amidst UK Pollinator Declines, Migrant Hoverflies Are Doing Well

A decade-long study tallies the numbers of pest-eating, flower-pollinating hoverflies that travel to the UK every year, and illustrates their important ecological roles in southern Britain.

katya katarina zimmer
| 4 min read

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ABOVE: Episyrphus balteatus, commonly known as the marmalade fly, is one of the most common hoverfly species to be found in Britain, and sports distinctive double stripes on its abdomen.
WILLIAM HAWKES, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Every spring, the UK receives swarms of insect visitors from mainland Europe—among them two species of particularly beneficial hoverflies. For the first time, researchers have quantified the sheer scale of their migration and the ecological benefits they bring to Britain.

According to the study, published today (June 13) in Current Biology, the insects consume up to 10 trillion crop-gobbling aphids during their stay, in addition to pollinating British wildflowers and crops. The researchers also report that numbers of migratory hoverflies have been relatively stable over the last decade, and not in decline like many other pollinator species.

“We often think about bees as our major pollinators, but actually the hoverflies and other species of flies are ...

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Meet the Author

  • katya katarina zimmer

    Katarina Zimmer

    After a year teaching an algorithm to differentiate between the echolocation calls of different bat species, Katarina decided she was simply too greedy to focus on one field. Following an internship with The Scientist in 2017, she has been happily freelancing for a number of publications, covering everything from climate change to oncology.
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