Hover-flies (Syrphidae: Milesiinae)

Image Credit: S. Rae

Hover-flies (Syrphidae: Milesiinae) microbivores – Most of these black species are forest dwellers, that are associated with wounded or dying wood, and which feed primarily upon yeasts. Nearly all of the species in this subfamily have black faces and often all black bodies as well. Though I have investigated the hover-flies that have migrated to the flowers in open meadows, there is the undocumented possibility that many of them remain in the forest and visit flowers of the forest floor.

Milesiinae

One of the many genera of black forest-dwelling yeast-feeding hover-flies. Like all hover-flies the very large eyes are distinctive.