Hoverflies have long abdomens with yellow and black stripes. They look almost similar to the bees and wasps.
But hoverflies will not sting or bite you.They create a nuisance, which is quite annoying. The article lists various natural ways on how to get rid of hoverflies. These ways will help you to make your outdoor experience enjoyable.
What Are Hoverflies?
Hoverflies are also known as flowerflies. They belong to the Syrphidae family. Their size varies from 3-20.6 mm depending on the species.
Hoverflies have a large head, prominent eyes and short antennae. They have a long abdomen with yellow and black stripes.
Adult hoverflies hover around flowers; hence, they are known as hoverflies. You will mainly find these insects in garden.
The hoverflies live for only 15-30 days. But there are some species which can live for around 55 days.
A female hoverfly can lay almost 100 eggs or more in their entire lifetime.
The garden is a safe place for hoverflies to lay eggs. The eggs further hatch into larvae, which helps to deter aphids from your garden. Hence, they help improve the quality of crops in your garden.
The adult ones feed only on nectar and pollen. Hoverflies can carry the pollen to longer distances compared to bees.
If you see hoverflies buzzing next time in your garden, then don’t worry. They are helping your plants to prosper.
How To Get Rid Of Hoverflies?
If you find many hoverflies in your garden, they are pretty annoying. You must be looking forward to how to get rid of hoverflies. I am listing some of them below.
1. Prepare Repellants
You can find various chemical repellants to drive hoverflies away from your garden. But natural repellants are better as they dont have any chemicals. I am listing some of the repellants you can easily prepare at home to eliminate hoverflies.
Soap, Vinegar And Water
Take a spray bottle and fill 3/4 of the bottle with water. You can then fill the rest of the spray bottle with vinegar. Add two pumps of dish soap to the bottle. You can then mix it properly and apply it as a hoverfly repellant.
Cinnamon Powder And Water
Mix cinnamon powder and water and spray it on many areas of your garden. Hoverflies hate the smell of cinnamon and will not come to your garden.You can also use cinnamon essential oil to get rid of the hoverflies.
2. Remove Flowering Plants From Your Garden
Hoverflies are attracted to the pollen and nectar present in flowering plants. It even gives them an opportunity for mating. So, if you have many flowering plants in your garden, then hoverflies will often visit.
You can remove the extra ones to get rid of them. But if you don’t want to remove flowering plants, then you can plant basil or mint plants near the flowering plants. The basil or mint plants will help to deter the hoverflies from your garden.
3. Use Flytrap
If the above remedies don’t work, you can use a flytrap to trap these hoverflies. Flytraps are scented paper with glue on it. The hoverflies get attracted towards the scented paper, and when they land, the glue traps them.
You can hang the flytraps on areas where you find a lot of hoverflies. You can purchase flytraps easily from a nearby hardware store.
4. Leave Beneficial Insects
There are some predators of hoverflies, like ladybugs and ground beetles, which are a predator of the hoverflies. You can leave these insects in your garden to get rid of hoverflies.
5. Use Neem Oil Spray
Neem oil spray is another effective way to deter hoverflies. You need to spray it on places where you mostly find hoverflies. It is a natural insecticide and is safe or pets and kids.
6. Reduce Aphids In Your Garden
Aphids are the perfect snack for the hoverflies. If you don’t have many flowering plants but have various plants infected with aphids, hoverflies will visit your garden.
Well, there are ways to reduce the aphid population. Aphids usually stay on the underside of the leaves.
You can wash the leaves on both sides of the plant with soapy water. Doing it several times will help to reduce aphids in your area. Once the aphid population declines, you will find that hoverflies have reduced in your garden.
7. Add a Fan To Your Patio
If hoverflies are constantly disturbing you then you can add a fan. You can switch on the ceiling fan for a few minutes to discourage the hoverflies from returning to your patio.
But if still the problem persists, then use an oscillating fan. They produce strong winds which can deter hoverflies.
8. Scrape Off From Surface
Hoverflies will not buzz everytime. They become inactive when the temperature goes below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. You can take advantage of it. You can scrape off hoverflies from the surface, collect them in a bucket and leave them in some other location.
9. Use Essential Oils
Some essential oils like lavender oil, peppermint oil and Eucalyptus oil can be used to deter hoverflies. You need to mix three to four drops of any essential oils in water and apply them to the nest of hoverflies.
You can make a strong smell by mixing lavender and eucalyptus oil in equal amounts and apply in infested areas.
10. Spray Insecticide
You can spray Insecticide if any of the above methods do not work. But remember, insecticides can contain chemicals that can kill bees and butterflies. Ensure to spray an insecticide that is specially designed to deter hoverflies.
11. Try to Keep Your Garden Dry
If your garden has standing water then hoverflies will often come. It allows the insect to lay eggs. So you should always keep your garden dry.
Conclusion
Hoverflies are beneficial to your garden. But a large number of hoverflies create a nuisance, which is quite annoying. Well, i have listed various ways on how to get rid of hoverflies. You can use any of the methods to deter hoverflies from your garden.
