Summary
A hoverfly looks like a little bee, but its wriggly young are aphid-hunters that protect orange trees. Deep Look follows the hoverfly's life cycle from egg to helpful larva to flower-visiting adult.
Viewer safety
All ages
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A hoverfly lays eggs near aphids. The larvae (maggots) hatch and eat aphids that would harm citrus trees, then grow up into adults that visit flowers and help pollinate. Each life-cycle stage plays a different, useful role.
- What do hoverfly larvae eat that helps orange trees?
- How does the adult hoverfly help flowers?
- How does the hoverfly change through its life cycle?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: larva, aphid, pollinate, life cycle.
Try it: Draw the hoverfly life cycle: egg, aphid-eating larva, flower-visiting adult. Write how each stage helps a farmer.