Christopher Intagliata asked what comes to mind when he thinks of pollinators. They may be bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds. How about... flies?
The second most important group of insects are flies. They deserve more credit than they are given.
The University of Georgia has a researcher named C. Scott Clem. He's been studying a type of fly. They may have masqueraded as bees before.
They are kind of different from other flies in that they are yellow and black. Sometimes they'll land on your skin looking for the salt on your skin, and other times they'll visit flowers.
Some flies make a remarkable autumn migration by studying the isotopes in their legs andwings. They fly hundreds of miles to central Illinois from Canada. It is1-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-6556
They get up into high altitudes. It takes them a long time to surf on these winds.
The results are in a journal. The Doctic Nearctic hover flies are engaged in long-distance migration. There is an assessment of evidence.
The flies migrate. They may be following the blooms of the flowers or they may be pursuing the aphids they eat.
The ecological services could be moved across the continent on an annual basis if they move.
According to the scientists, the flies could be helping to eradicate pests by transporting billions of grains of pollen. The ecological services they provide could very well be the real deal.
This is a transcript of the show.
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