hover fly

British  

noun

1. any dipterous fly of the family Syrphidae, with a typically hovering flight, esp Syrphus ribesii, which mimics a wasp

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Example Sentences

The hover fly and wasp-nest beetle were given the green light by the country's Environmental Protection Authority.

From BBC

Tasman District Council, based in Richmond, South Island, had applied for permission to introduce the hover fly and wasp-control beetle as bio control agents.

From BBC

As a boy, I thought the common hover fly was a clownishly bad mimic of a bee.

From Washington Post

A small hover fly less than half an inch long rests on a leaf.

From New York Times

The indispensable element of a copter is the rotor, which enables it to take off and land on a dime, hover, fly in any direction, land on a dead engine.

From Time Magazine Archive