| Deep Look: How Hoverflies Spawn Maggots that Sweeten Your Oranges | | Oblique streaktail hoverflies zip from bloom to bloom wearing a wasp costume to avoid getting eaten. But it's all for show - they don't even have stingers! Their fierce maggots, on the other hand, devour hundreds of insect pests. As they gorge, they help keep orange trees safe from disease. | | |
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| Asian Citrus Psyllids Damage Orange Trees | | Asian citrus psyllids feed on orange and other citrus trees; as they drink the trees' sap, they transmit a bacterium that causes a disease called citrus greening. Infected trees make green, bitter fruit and eventually die. Hoverfly maggots help with pest control in the orchards by devouring the psyllids. And there's more: Argentine ants feed on the psyllids' ribbons of sweet, white poop (pictured above). In exchange, the ants try to fend off the hoverfly maggots! | | |
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| Hoverfly Scientist Nicola Irvin | | Deep Look worked with entomologist Nicola Irvin, at the University of California, Riverside to film this episode. She has planted alyssum in orange groves to attract oblique streaktail hoverflies. Alyssum is a favorite plant of the hoverflies. | | |
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Happy Thanksgiving from Deep Look and KQED Science! 🧡
We hope you enjoyed this closer look at Deep Look's newest episode.
Remember that fly checking out your pie is a nuisance. But hoverflies, also known as "flower flies," are actually helpful. They're pollinators and their offspring feed on bugs that hurt citrus trees. So, you can thank hoverflies for keeping your oranges sweet! 🍊 |
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