The lesser drone-fly is a species of hoverfly found around the Mediterranean, from Portugal to Lebanon as well as in many parts of Asia including the Caucasus, Nepal, northern Pakistan, northern India and Iran. It is also found in many parts of Africa, and reaches as far as South Africa. It has also been introduced in parts of North America, particularly in California and Florida where, as often happens with introduced species, it could become a pest.

In Maltese it is called dubbiena tal-għajnejn irrigati.

The lesser drone-fly is very similar to another very common species known simply as drone-fly, or dubbiena dakar in Maltese, which is slightly larger than the lesser drone-fly and does not have its distinctive striped eyes.

The hoverfly family consists of about 6,000 species which are found in most terrestrial and aquatic habitats across most of the world. In the Maltese islands the family is represented by no less than 30 species. Many of these live on or near flowers and are usually brightly coloured.

Most species defend themselves by mimicking bees and wasps: they look like them and may spend a lot of time hovering like them in front of flowers. Their mimicry is so effective that they often fool most people who are not familiar with them.

Adult hoverflies feed mostly on nectar and pollen but their larvae go for a totally different menu. While the larvae of some species feed on decaying vegetable matter, several species feed on aphids and other plant-sucking insects and are considered very important agents of biological pest control.

Hoverflies are also important pollinators. Some species are generalists, meaning they visit the flowers of many species of plants, while others are specialists and visit a limited number of often closely-related species.

Hoverflies use vision to locate flowers. They prefer to visit white or yellow flowers but sometimes they use olfactory clues to locate flowers, especially if they are not white or yellow.

portelli.paul@gmail.com