Syrphids in the school (Diptera: Syrphidae)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14198/cdbio.31583Keywords:
Hoverflies, predatory insects, Biological Control, IPAB Associated Unit, scientific outreach, Ciudad Ciencia project, sustainable agriculture at the classroomAbstract
Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are an important group of insects that act as pollinating agents in their adult stage, while their larvae can live in very different habitats, both terrestrial and aquatic. The larvae of approximately one third of their species are predatory, mainly feeding on aphids. In Europe, three species of hoverflies with predatory larvae are commercially available: Eupeodes corollae, Sphaerophoria rueppellii, and Episyrphus balteatus, which are already listed among the biological control agents commonly released in greenhouse crops where biology Pest control strategies are applied.
The IPAB Associated Unit, formed by the Ibero-American Centre for Biodiversity (CIBIO) of the Alicante University and the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (ICA) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) deliver the on line workshop entitled “Sustainable Agriculture in the Classroom”, aimed at primary and secondary school students. The aim of this workshop s to bring Agricultural Sciences closer to schools through the development of a series of practical and educational experiments related to the ICA’s research lines.
Among the activities carried out in the workshop “Sustainable Agriculture in the Classroom” in the one titled “Biological control organisms: raise them yourself”, observe its behavior in relation to the pest insect, and learn which measures should be adopted for its proper management.
Funding
Proyecto AGROALNEXT (AGROALNEXT/2022/052-BIOPESTNEW), financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades con fondos de la Unión Europea NextGenerationEU (PRTR-C17.I1) a través del plan complementario de agroalimentación gestionado por la Generalitat Valenciana, Proyecto de Generación de Conocimiento (PID2024-161912OB-I00) financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades y Proyecto divulgativo CIUDAD CIENCIA que forma parte del Contrato de Gestión del CSIC como proyecto estructural.References
Amorós-Jiménez, R., Pineda, A., Fereres, A., Marcos-García, M.A. (2012). Prey availability and abiotic requirements of immature stages of the aphid predator Sphaerophoria rueppellii. Biological Control, 63: 17-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2012.06.001
Amorós-Jiménez, R., Pineda Gómez, A.M., Fereres, A. & Marcos-García, M.A. (2014). Feeding preferences of the aphidophagous hoverfly Sphaerophoria rueppellii affect the performance of its offspring. BioControl, 59(4): 427-435.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-014-9577-8
Amorós Jiménez, R., Plaza, M., Monserrat, M., Marcos García & M.Á. Fereres, A. (2020). Effect of UV- Absorbing Nets on the Performance of the Predator Sphaerophoria rueppellii (Diptera: Syrphidae). Insects, 11, 166.
https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11030166
Burgio, G., Dindo, M.L., Pape, T., Whitmore, D. & Sommaggio, D. (2025). Diptera as predators in biological control: applications and future perspectives. BioControl, 70: 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-024-10281-2
Díaz, B.M., Legarrea S., Marcos-García, Mª Á. & Fereres, A. (2010). The spatio-temporal relationships among aphids, the entomophthoran fungus, Pandora neoaphidis and aphidophagous hoverflies in outdoor lettuce. Biological Control. 53(3): 304-311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2009.12.002
Doyle, T., Hawkes, W.L.S., Massy, R., Powney, G.D., Menz, M.H.M. & Wotton, K.R. (2020). Pollination by hoverflies in the Anthropocene. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287, 20200508. https://doi. org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0508 Los Sírfidos en el aula (Diptera: Syrphidae).https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0508
Dunn, L., Lequerica T., M., Reid, C.R. & Latty, T. (2020). Dual ecosystem services of syrphid flies (Diptera: Syrphidae): pollinators and biological control agents. Pest management Science 76 (6): 1973-1979. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5807
Fauteux, A., Soares, A. O. & Lucas, E. (2024). Larval development and voracity of Eupeodes americanus (Diptera: Syrphidae): comparison of the focal prey Aphis gossypii (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and the banker prey Rhopalosiphum padi (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Insect Science, 31(2), 575-586. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.13255
Hawkes WL, Doyle, T., Massy, R., Weston, S.T., Davies, K., Cornelius1, E., Collier, C., Chapman, J.W., Reynolds, D.R. & Karl R. Wotton (2024) The most remarkable migrants-systematic analysis of the Western European insect flyway at a Pyrenean mountain pass. Proceedings of the Royal Society 291: 20232831. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2831
Marcos-García, M. A. (2021). Experiencia de campo e investigación, un binomio clave para el éxito del control de pulgones por sírfidos (Diptera, Syrphidae). Phytoma, 327: 40-44.
Martínez‐Falcón, A.P., Ángeles Marcos‐García, M., Díaz‐Castelazo, C. & Rico‐Gray, V. (2010). Seasonal changes in a cactus‐hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) network. Ecological Entomology, 35(6):754-759. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.2010.01236.x
Mengual, X. (2015). The systematic position and phylogenetic relationships of Asiobaccha Violovitsh (Diptera, Syrphidae). JournalofAsia-PacificEntomology, 18 (3), 397- 408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aspen.2015.03.010
Ng J.C. & Perry K.L. (2004). Transmission of plant viruses by aphid vectors. Molecular Plant Pathology, 1;5(5):505-11. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1364-3703.2004.00240.x
Pekas, A., de Craecker, I., Boonen, S., Wäckers, F.L. & Moerkens, R. (2020). One stone; two birds: concurrent pest control and pollination services provided by aphidophagous hoverflies. Biological Control, 149:104328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104328
Pineda, A. & Marcos-García, M. Á. (2007a). Introducing barley as aphid reservoir in sweet-pepper greenhouses: Effect on native and released hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae). European Journal of Entomology, 105:531-535 ISSN 1210-5759 (print), 1802-8829 (online). https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2008.070
Pineda, A., Morales, I., Marcos-García, M.Á & Fereres, A. (2007b). Oviposition avoidance of parasitized aphids colonies by the syrphid predator Episyrphus balteatus mediated by different cues. Biological Control 42:274-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2007.05.017
Pineda, A. & Marcos-García, M.A. (2008). Use of selected flowering plants in greenhouses to enhance aphidophagous hoverfly populations (Diptera: Syrphidae). Annals de la Société Entomologique de France, 44 (4): 487-492.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00379271.2008.10697584
Potts, S.G., Roberts, S.P.M., Dean, R., Marris, G., Brown, M., Jones, R. & Settele, J. (2010). Declines of managed honeybees and beekeepers in Europe. Journal of Apicultural Research, 49 (1): 15-22. https://doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.49.1.02
Reynolds, S.K., Clem, C.S., Fitz‐Gerald, B. & Young, A.D. (2024). A comprehensive review of long‐ distance hover fly migration (Diptera: Syrphidae). Ecological Entomology, 49 (6):749-767. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13373
Ricarte, A. & Marcos-García, M.Á. (2017). A checklist of the Syrphidae (Diptera) of Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar. Zootaxa, 4216 (5): 401- 440. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4216.5.1
Rodríguez-Gasol, N., Alins, G., Veronesi, E. R., & Wratten, S. (2020). The ecology of predatory hoverflies as ecosystem-service providers in agricultural systems. Biological Control, 151, 104405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104405
Rojo, S., Gilbert, F., Marcos-García, M.A., Nieto, J.M. Mier, M.P. (2003). A World Review of Predatory Hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae: Syrphinae) and their Prey. CIBIO Ediciones, Alicante, 319 pp.
Wong, D., Norman, H., Creedy, T. J., Jordaens, K., Moran, K. M., Young, A., Mengual, X., Skevington, J. H. & Vogler, A. P. (2023). The phylogeny and evolutionary ecology of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) inferred from mitochondrial genomes. Mol Phylogenet Evol., 184: 107759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107759
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Elisa Garzo González, María Plaza Marín, María Ángeles Marcos García
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
