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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 26, 2025

Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies

Rearing and Long-Term Maintenance of Eristalis tenax Hoverflies for Research Studies

Published on: May 19, 2018

Migratory hoverflies orientate north during spring migration.

Will L Hawkes¹, Scarlett T Weston¹, Holly Cook¹

¹Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.

Biology Letters

|October 5, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Spring hoverfly migration shows an innate northward preference, confirmed by ground observations. These insects can orient even without direct sunlight, unlike their autumn counterparts.

Keywords:

insect migration orientation pollinator spring migration syrphid

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Published on: December 10, 2015

Area of Science:

Entomology
Animal Migration
Behavioral Ecology

Background:

Seasonal migration of hoverflies occurs in the Northern Hemisphere, with spring and autumn movements differing in study accessibility.
Spring migration direction has been inferred but lacked ground confirmation, unlike autumn migration studied via radar and flight simulators.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide ground-based evidence for the preferred migratory direction of hoverflies during spring.
To investigate the orientation capabilities of spring migratory hoverflies under varying light conditions.

Main Methods:

Field observations and capture of migratory hoverflies arriving in the UK during springtime.
Release of captured hoverflies under controlled conditions (sunny and obscured sun) to record vanishing bearings.
Analysis of wind patterns to infer the origin of the migrating insects.

Main Results:

Ground observations confirmed a consistent northward vanishing bearing for spring migratory hoverflies.
Spring migrants demonstrated orientation abilities even when the sun was obscured, a capability not observed in autumn migrants.
Wind analysis suggested a migratory origin in western France for hoverflies arriving in the Isles of Scilly.

Conclusions:

Spring hoverfly migration exhibits an innate northward directional preference, supported by ground-based orientation data.
The ability to orient under obscured sunlight differentiates spring migrants from autumn migrants.
The findings on spring migration routes and directions likely apply to other insects within the western European migratory assemblage.