It's "Friday Fly Day" but we haven't seen a drone fly (Eristalis tenax) for at least a month.
It's a member of the hover fly family, Syrphidae, but it manages to appear almost everywhere as...a... bee.
A drone is a drone is a drone. A bee is a bee is a bee. (Thank you, Gertrude Stein, who penned "A rose is a rose is a rose.")
Three of the easiest ways to differentiate a fly from a bee:
- A fly has one set of wings. A bee has two sets.
- A fly has short, stubby antennae. A honey bee has long, segmented antennae.
- A fly has no corbicula or pollen basket. A honey bee (worker bee) does.
Last month we spotted scores of drone flies sipping nectar from our Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia). They appeared to be practicing their take-offs and landings at an airport comparable to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (which handled more than 108 million passengers in 2024).
Of all the syrphid species, E. tenax is the most common throughout the world; it's been found on every continent except Antarctica. It's even been found in the Himalayas!
The late Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology, used to call E. tenax "The H Bee," due to its abdominal markings resembling an "H." And probably, too, because it's sort of an "Honorary Bee," often mistaken for a honey bee.
At first glance, the drone fly does indeed resemble a honey bee. A little. At second glance, it doesn't. Stocky frame, wrap-around eyes, stubby antenna, two wings, and no pollen basket.
Its larvae are rat-tailed maggots. The larvae are aquatic. They live in drainage ditches, pools around manure piles, in sewage, and the like.
But still, our drone fly, E. tenax (does E. stand for Excellent?) is a pollinator that visits flower after flower. From a maggot in a drainage ditch to an "honorary" bee pollinating flowers to a star on "Friday Fly Day."
