Hover-flies look like little wasps. They have a yellow and brown striped back and transparent wings. This mimicry helps them to scare off predators. Despite their looks hover-flies are harmless to humans, they are a real fly.
The feature that lends them the name is their peculiar flight behavior. They hover in the air at one point like little helicopters for seconds and than they move on, only to stop at the next spot.
Adult hover-flies are welcome pollinators. They feed on plant nectar and while foraging they carry pollen around and help fertilise our plants. Hover-fly larvae are maggots. They feed on aphids. Both makes hover-flies very welcome visitors to our garden.