Hoverfly larvae devour blackfly, so welcome them by planting the umbels they love
I’m not sure about your garden, but mine has been awash with blackfly (Aphis fabae) this year. They started on their namesake, the broad beans, hopped over the nasturtiums and are now having fun on the runner beans and numerous flowers, from chrysanthemums to dahlias. I’ve been patiently waiting for the ladybird larvae to deal with them, but they are late this year; I assume the wet winter decimated overwinter adults.
Thus my joy at finding hoverfly larvae hoovering up aphids is palpable. The larvae of the pretty, gossamer-winged hoverfly are a broad church of diners. Some like to eat plants and others are predatory, feeding on micromoth larvae, plant lice and scale insects. However, about 40% of the UK species (there are 165) like to eat a lot of aphids.
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