Editing Hoverfly (section)

== Distribution and habitat ==
Hoverflies are a [[cosmopolitan distribution|cosmopolitan]] family found in most [[biome]]s, except extreme deserts, [[tundra]] at extremely high latitudes, and [[Antarctica]].<ref name="Iziko">{{cite web |url=http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/flies/syrphidae/index.htm |title=Syrphidae (hoverflies) |access-date=December 11, 2009|last=Barkemeyer|first=Werner|location=South Africa |publisher=[[Iziko South African Museum|Iziko Museum]] |work=Biodiversity Explorer |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923190349/http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/flies/syrphidae/index.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/diptera/syrphid/syrphid.htm |title=Flower Flies |access-date=December 11, 2009 |publisher=[[United States Department of Agriculture]]|work=The Diptera Site |last=Thompson |first=F. Christian|date=August 19, 1999|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211155805/http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/Diptera/syrphid/syrphid.htm|archive-date=December 11, 2009}}</ref> Certain species are more common in certain areas than others; for example, the [[American hoverfly]], ''Eupeodes americanus'', is common in the [[Nearctic realm]], and the [[common hoverfly]], ''Melangyna viridiceps'', is common in the [[Australasian realm]]. About 6,000 species and 200 genera are in the family.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Gary Mullen |editor2=Gary Richard Mullen |editor3=Lance Durden |year=2009 |title=Medical and Veterinary Entomology |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |isbn=978-0-12-372500-4 |chapter=Myiasis (Muscoidea, Oestroidea) |author1=Philip J. Scholl |author2=E. Paul Catts |author3=Gary R. Mullen |pages=309–338 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6R1v9o-uaI4C&pg=PA309}}</ref>

While some hoverfly larvae are aquatic and are often found in stagnant water, those of species that prey upon [[aphids]] and other plant parasites are usually terrestrial, residing on leaves.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bumblebee.org/invertebrates/DipteraHoverflies.htm|title=Syrphidae, hoverflies|author=Laura Smith|work=bumblebee.org}}</ref> Adults are often found near flowers, their principal food source being nectar and pollen.<ref name="Hutchinson" /> Some species are [[inquiline]]s; for instance, members of the genus ''[[Volucella]]'' can be found in bumblebee nests, while members of ''[[Microdon]]'' are [[myrmecophile]]s, found in ant or termite nests.<ref name="Britannica" /> Others can be found in decomposing vegetation.{{cn|date=February 2025}}