Gaillardia World: Flies! The Second Most Important Pollinators

Next to bees, flies are the most important pollinators.  So many kinds of flies came to  Gaillardia:

Flower Flies.   

Flower Flies (family Syrphidae) arrived in a variety of sizes and colors, but all of them looking like bees.  Syrphids are known as "bee-mimics"; their resemblance to stinging creatures may give them protection from predators.  They certainly fooled me when I first encountered them.  Now, despite their bee-act, I know to look for the "fly eyes"--which are larger and rounder than those of bees.  

Here is the lovely Syrphid Fly, Eristalis stipator, on our front-yard Gaillardias, on June 17, 2022:

Eristalis stipator is a common visitor to wildflowers in our prairie restorations.  

One month later, July 17, 2022, a Flower Fly of the same genus but a different species came to the Gaillardia.  It is E. aeneus. Check out those eyes!  

E. aeneus has eyes especially large, even for a fly.     

At the end of July, a Flower Fly I had never seen before came to sip on the Gaillardia.   It was Eupeodes volucris, aka Bird Hover Fly.  Many thanks to entomologist Betsy Betros for identifying this fly for me.   "Hover Fly" is another name for Flower Fly or Syrphid, referring to the Flower Flies' tendency to "hover" over flowers and zip forwards and backwards, just like bees, or--perhaps this is the source of the common name--just like hummingbirds.  

Here are some photos of the lovely Bird Hover Fly:

Bird Hover Fly feeding on the Gaillardia pulchella volunteering by our barn.

July 29, 2022

  And here is the Bird Hover Fly in action:  

Eupeodes volucris sips nectar from Gaillardia pulchella 

July 29, 2022.

At the beginning of August a tiny Hover Fly came to visit but not to eat.   This is Toxomerus politus, often mistaken for a sweat bee.  Here is T. politus sitting on a Gaillardia leaf, not going to the nectar-filled blossoms.  That's because T. politus specializes in grass pollen, not wildflower pollen.   Note how large the eyes are in proportion to the body.  Not a bee!

T. politus rests on a Gaillardia leaf on Aug. 4, 2022

This tiny Hover Fly is the opposite of shy.  At the beginning of September, while trying to take pictures of pollinators on Gaillardia, I often had T. politus sitting on my camera!  In the following photos, I am recording two shield bugs on Gaillardia, while T. politus keeps me company:

T. politus on Sony Handycam, September 3, 2022.

Robber Flies.  Robber Flies are amazingly speedy fliers and fierce predators.   They  are impressive also in their bold and elaborate body plan.   Here is a closeup of a Robber Fly in the genus Diogmites:

 A Robber Fly on a Gaillardia seedhead, August 3, 2022.

In the video below a Robber Fly patrols his hunting ground, taking off to catch a bee fly, but missing.  He has better luck with a Damsel Fly that has also chosen Gaillardia as his hunting ground but finds himself hunted instead.   "Diogmites" comes from the Greek word for "chasing" or "pursuing."  This genus is also called "Hanging Thieves" for their habit of hanging by two legs while consuming their prey.  

A Robber Fly (Diogmites sp.) hunting in a patch of Gaillardia 

and consuming a Damsel Fly, August 3, 2022.

Biting Midges.  For years, while watching larger pollinators, I have noticed tiny flies with thin oval wings also visiting flowers.  The same thing happened toward the end of the season with Gaillardia, and this time I was determined to learn who they were.  It was hard to get photos of creatures so small but this time I was able to photograph enough for experts to help me with ID.  Meet a member of the genus Atrichopogon, a member of the fly family Ceratopogonidae, the Biting Midges.   Female Biting Midges, like female mosquitoes, need a blood meal to reproduce, and are thus the "biters."   The males, however, feed exclusively on  nectar or other sugary material.  They are not biters--they must be sweet-talkers!

Here a Biting Midge is sipping nectar next  to a Fungus Weevil 

which is itself diminutive, not much bigger than 

a No. 2 pencil point.    That's how tiny this midge is!

 The long oval wings closed over the abdomen is a 

characteristic of this genus.  

 Tachinid Flies. Tachinids are parasitoids of other insects.   As adults they feed on nectar and pollen but as larvae they feed on other insects, eventually killing their hosts.  Here is a member of the Dexiini, a Tribe of the Family Tachinidae.   Females in this tribe lay eggs in the ground.  As the larvae hatch, they wander through the soil in search of beetle grubs to latch onto and eventually consume.  

This handsome Tachinid sips nectar 

from Gaillardia on June 18, 2022.

Crane Flies.  Infraorder Tipulomorpha (Crane Flies).  Possibly Limoniidae sp. (Large Crane Flies).

Crane Flies came to Gaillardia pulchella toward the end of the growing season. There are many species of Crane Fly, and they are ecologically beneficial, as their larvae decompose organic matter in soil or water. The adults in many of those species do not eat at all. They live only a few days, just long enough to mate and reproduce, with the females laying eggs in soil or water. However, the Crane Fly that is pictured here is not of a teetotaling species. This one is drinking nectar with a sewing-machine like motion. The "fly eyes" on a tiny head are striking, as are the long delicate legs with black "knees." Here is an adult Crane Fly enjoying an adult beverage:

A Crane Fly drinks nectar on October 6, 2022.