Photo by Debbie Roos, Agricultural Extension Agent.
I snapped this photo of a huge syrphid fly in my garden - I heard it coming from very far away! It is foraging on Mexican sunflower (Tithonia sp.), dwarfing a tiny sweat bee (Halictid sp.). Syrphid flies, also called flower flies or hover flies, are pollinators and also considered beneficial because the larval stage preys on aphids.
