Human-induced pressures, including pesticide exposure and climate change, pose significant threats to the hoverfly, integral to pollination for food production.
According to research led by Queen’s University Belfast, the hoverfly affects the food we eat, such as apples and strawberries, through a unique pollination process.
It is a harmless insect belonging to the true fly family Syrphidae. The name is inspired by its ability to stay still in midair.
The insect pollinates many crops and wild plants, making an important contribution to food production and natural ecosystems.
RM Block
However, little is known about the behaviour of the hoverfly.
A research team from Queen’s recorded marmalade hoverflies during single visits to strawberry flowers, then measured the weight and fertilised seed count of the resulting fruit to test how the hoverfly behaviour affected pollination success.
PhD student Martha Fox of the School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s led the study. “This research shows that the marmalade hoverfly is an important pollinator of strawberries and many other plants with similar flowers, including valuable crops such as apples and a wide variety of wildflowers that support biodiversity in natural ecosystems,” she said.
“Importantly, we show that their behaviour during a flower visit is the driver of their pollination efficiency, and this explains why these insects are excellent pollinators despite lacking specialised features, like pollen baskets in bees.”
The findings underscore the role the insects play in supporting food security, given their abundance and wide distribution throughout Ireland and continental Europe.
However, human-induced pressures, including pesticide exposure and climate change, pose significant threats to their populations and may alter their behaviour, with potentially detrimental effects on pollination and food production, the study warned.
Dr Isabella Capellini of the university, who was also involved in the research, said: “The study has high scientific value as it shows for the first time what insects do to pollinate flowers, something that has been very understudied.”
Using strawberries as a model crop, the work demonstrated the importance of pollinator behaviour, “particularly as environmental pressures such as temperature change and pollution continue to affect pollinator performance”, she said.
Understanding how pollinator behaviour influences pollination success can help explain differences between species and support efforts to protect ecosystems and maintain pollination in a changing environment, the study found.
