Biocontrol Agent Profile

This is a common hover fly in fields and gardens across the southern US.  The larvae are typically various shades of green with two longitudinal white lines down the back.  They are voracious aphid predators in a variety of crops, but their effectiveness in field crops can be limited by a lack of floral resources (nectar as fuel for flight and pollen for egg maturation).  Flowering cover crops will attract and conserve them.