Editing Hoverfly (section)

==Description==
The size of hoverflies varies depending on the species.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/273341/hover-fly|title=hoverfly |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online |year=2009 |access-date=December 5, 2009}}</ref> For example ''[[Paragus tibialis]]''<ref name="Stubbs">{{cite book |last1=Stubbs |first1=Alan E. |last2=Falk |first2=Steven J |title=British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide |edition=2nd |year=1983 |publisher=[[British Entomological and Natural History Society]] |location=London |isbn=1-899935-03-7 |pages=253, xvpp }}</ref><ref name="atlas">{{cite book |last1=Ball |first1=S.G. |last2=Morris |first2=R.K.A. |title=Provisional atlas of British hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae) |year=2000 |publisher=Biological Record Centre |location=[[Monks Wood, UK]] |isbn=1-870393-54-6 |pages=167 pages<!-- ? needs actual page number? -->}}</ref><ref name="VanVeen">{{cite book |last= Van Veen |first= M.P. |title=Hoverflies of Northwest Europe, Identification Keys to the Syrphidae |type= Hardback |year=2004 |publisher=KNNV Publishing |location=Utrecht |isbn=90-5011-199-8 |page=254 }}</ref> is {{convert|3-5|mm|in|frac=64|abbr=on}} long, while ''[[Criorhina nigriventris]]'' is {{convert|13.6-20.6|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} long.<ref name=skev>{{cite book |last=Skevington |first=Jeffrey H. |date=2019 |title= Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America |url= |location= |publisher= |page=  |isbn= 9780691189406 }}</ref> Some, such as members of the genus ''[[Baccha]]'', are small, elongated, and slender, while others, such as members of ''[[Criorhina]]'', are large, hairy, and yellow and black. As members of the [[Diptera]], all hoverflies have a single functional pair of wings, with the hind wings reduced to [[Halteres|balancing organs]].<ref name="Hutchinson">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Hover+Fly|title=Hoverfly|access-date=December 6, 2009 |encyclopedia=Hutchinson Encyclopedia |publisher=Helicon Publishing |year=2009}}</ref> Many species are brightly colored, with spots, stripes, and bands of yellow or brown covering their bodies.<ref name="Hutchinson" /> Due to this coloration, they are often mistaken both by insect-eating birds and by humans for [[wasps]] or [[bee]]s; they exhibit [[Batesian mimicry]]. Despite this, hoverflies are harmless to humans.<ref name="Britannica" /> Drone flies, ''[[Eristalis tenax]],'' are an example of a species of hoverfly who exhibit Batesian mimicry.<ref name="p815">{{cite journal | last=Heal | first=Jonathan | title=Colour patterns of syrphidae: | journal=Heredity | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=42 | issue=2 | year=1979 | issn=0018-067X | doi=10.1038/hdy.1979.24 | pages=223–236}}</ref>

With a few exceptions,<ref name="Reemer08">{{cite journal |last=Reemer |first=Menno |year=2008 |title=''Surimyia'', a new genus of Microdontinae, with notes on ''Paragodon'' Thompson, 1969 (Diptera, Syrphidae) |journal=[[Zoologische Mededelingen]] |volume=82 |pages=177–188 |url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/record/261778 |format=[[Portable Document Format|PDF]]}}</ref> Hoverflies are distinguished from other flies by having a [[wikt:spurious|spurious]] vein, located parallel to their fourth longitudinal wing vein.<ref name="Britannica" /> Adults feed mainly on [[nectar]] and [[pollen]].<ref name="Hutchinson" /> Many species also hover around flowers, lending to their common name.<ref name="Britannica" />

Bee flies of the family [[Bombyliidae]] often mimic <!-- roar --> Hymenoptera and hover around flowers, as well, rendering some bombyliid species hard to tell apart from Syrphidae at first glance. Hoverflies can, nevertheless, be distinguished in the field by anatomical features such as:{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
* The legs and mouthparts of hoverflies are usually not particularly long and thin (some bombyliids have a long and needle-like proboscis, many have legs that are noticeably longer and thinner than in similar-sized syrphids)
* Their facial cuticle often has prominent bulges and/or beak- to knob-like projections (most bee flies have an evenly curved or sloping face).
* The wings are often clear or have smooth gradients of tinting, and their veins merge posteriorly into a "false edge" that runs parallel to the wing's true rear edge and extends along half or more of the wing length (bombyliid wings lack a "false rear edge" and often have large dark areas with sharp boundaries, or complex patterns of spots).
* Their abdomens and thoraces often have glossy cuticular body surfaces, abdominal colors are usually mainly due to cuticular pigments (bee flies are usually very hairy, their abdominal colors are almost always due to pigmentation of hairs and not the underlying cuticle).
[[File:ハナアブ.jpg|thumb|Their wariness of people is surprisingly low, and their behaviour  can be observed up close.]]