Hoverflies called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are seen hovering or nectaring at flowers. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids and other plant-sucking insects. Aphids alone cause tens of millions of dollars of damage to crops worldwide every year; some adult syrphid. About 6,000 species in 200 genera have been described. Hoverflies can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals, despite their mimicry of stinging wasps and bees, which wards off predators; the size of hoverflies varies depending on the species. Some, such as members of the genus Baccha, are small and slender, while others, such as members of Criorhina, are large and yellow and black; as members of the Diptera, all hoverflies have a single functional pair of wings.

Many species are brightly colored, with spots and bands of yellow or brown covering their bodies. Due to this coloring, they are mistaken for wasps or bees. Despite this, hoverflies are harmless to humans. Drone flies, E. tenax, are an example of a species of hoverfly. With a few exceptions, hoverflies are distinguished from other flies by having a spurious vein, located parallel to their fourth longitudinal wing vein. Adults feed on nectar and pollen. Many species hover around flowers, lending to their common name. Bee flies of the family Bombyliidae mimic Hymenoptera and hover around flowers, as well, rendering some bombyliid species hard to tell apart from Syrphidae at first glance. Hoverflies can be distinguished in the field by anatomical features such as: The legs and mouthparts of hoverflies are not long and thin Their facial cuticle has prominent bulges and/or beak- to knob-like projections; the wings are clear or have smooth gradients of tinting, their veins merge posteriorly into a "false edge" that runs parallel to the wing's true rear edge and extends along half or more of the wing length.

Their abdomens and thoraces have glossy cuticular body surfaces, abdominal colors are mainly due to cuticular pigments. Unlike adults, the maggots of hoverflies feed on a variety of foods. Predatory species are beneficial to farmers and gardeners, as aphids destroy crops, hoverfly maggots are used in biological control; this includes one of the most common widespread hoverfly species, Syritta pipiens, whose larvae feed on aphids. Certain species, such as Lampetia equestris or Eumerus tuberculatus, are responsible for pollination. An example of a well-known hoverfly maggot is the rat-tailed maggot, of the drone fly, Eristalis tenax, it has a breathing siphon at its rear end, giving it its name. The species lives in stagnant water, such as sewage and lagoons; the maggots have a commercial use, are sometimes sold for ice fishing. On rare occasions, hoverfly larvae have been known to cause accidental myiasis in humans; this occurs. Hoverflies are a cosmopolitan family found in most biomes, except extreme deserts, tundra at high latitudes, Antarctica.

Certain species are more common in certain areas than others. About 6,000 species and 200 genera are in the family. While some hoverfly larvae are aquatic and are found in stagnant water, those of species that prey upon aphids and other plant parasites are terrestrial, residing on leaves. Adults are found near flowers, their principal food source being nectar and pollen; some species are found in more unusual locations. Others can be found in decomposing vegetation. Hoverflies are important pollinators of flowering plants in many ecosystems worldwide. Syrphid flies are frequent flower visitors to a wide range of wild plants, as well as agricultural crops, are considered the second-most important group of pollinators after wild bees; however little research into fly pollinators has been conducted compared with bee species. Bees are thought to be able to carry a greater volume of pollen on their bodies, but flies may be able to compensate for this by making a greater number of flower visits. Like many pollinator groups, syrphid flies range from species that take a generalist approach to foraging by visiting a wide range

Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman Barker was a professor of Urdu and South Asian Studies who created one of the first roleplaying games, Empire of the Petal Throne, wrote several fantasy/science fantasy novels based in his associated world setting of Tékumel. Born in Spokane, descended from ancestors who had settled in America in 1626, Barker's childhood was spent around Washington and Idaho; as a youth he had an interest in "fairy stories and literature" which would be further influenced by such films as The Thief of Bagdad. From this his fictional lands of Tsolyanu and others, in what was to become Tékumel and were embellished further in middle and high school years during which time he commenced construction of armies of hand-carved figures to represent his creations. At an early age, Barker's interest in languages was piqued by neighboring children of Basque origin who were able to exclude others from their secret conversations in their native tongue. In, just before 1950, while Barker was studying at the University of Washington under Melville Jacobs, he became involved with small press publications, writing articles, short stories and contributing reviews to Fanscient and the local clubzine Sinisterra, the latter of which contained his review of, content from, Jack Vance relating to his published book, The Dying Earth.

At this time, Barker corresponded with other authors who contributed to those same publications, including Lin Carter in whose writings and linguistic experiments he took an interest and with whom he put to paper the story line of his own created world. He received a Fulbright Scholarship in 1951 to study Indian languages and on his first trip to India that year converted to Islam "for purely theological reasons, it seemed like a more logical religion", according to Fine, although Barker himself admitted at the time to an " feeling of awe and religious ecstasy" upon hearing the recitations of the 99 Names of Allah at the Taj Mahal. Barker attended the University of California, Berkeley for graduate studies, writing a dissertation on Klamath language, collecting traditional myths, legends and oral histories and publishing a grammar and dictionary on the language, he taught at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University from around 1958/59 until 1972 and became active in the development of Urdu and Baluchi instruction materials for English-speaking students following a period of two years from 1960 when he was attached to Panjab University.

Some of these are still recommended university course study materials as of 2010. From 1972 he moved to teach at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where he chaired the Department of South Asian studies until his retirement in the early 1990s, a few years after that department was disbanded due to reduced funding. While at Berkeley, Barker had not set aside his world creation project. Indeed, despite stepping back somewhat from an active role in the published science fiction/fantasy fandom, he had commenced "proto-gaming" with a group of like-minded science fiction fans including fellow linguist Bill Shipley and Victor Golla, producing elaborate documents to support the exploration of that shared world. Having watched the Dungeons & Dragons games started by Mike Mornard, one of the original testers for D&D, when he moved to Minneapolis from Lake Geneva, Barker resolved to create his own ruleset based on his own created world and the game mechanics from D&D. After six weeks, this was self-published in August 1974 as Empire of the Petal Throne and play commenced forthwith, including such occasional members as Dave Arneson – who singled out Barker and Tekumel as being his favorite GM and roleplaying game – from early days.

Once Gary Gygax's attention had been drawn to Barker's work, it was decided that TSR would publish a revised version of the game mechanics along with a condensed version of his campaign setting. TSR's Empire of the Petal Throne was published in 1975 for Gen Con VIII, making it TSR's third role-playing game to be published. In a Dragon Magazine editorial from December 1976, editor Tim Kask drew comparisons between the world of Tékumel and J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth not in terms of literature created, nor that his work was derivative of Tolkien's, but rather regarding the in-depth detail in the setting and linguistic backgrounds and concluded that "In terms of development of detail, I think EPT has it over Middle Earth in the matters that most concern gamers" since it had been developed by a "wargamer", whereas Tolkien had no such background and having died prior to the release of D&D was thus unable to address this new pastime personally. Barker disliked the limited support given to the setting, after 1977 he took his world of Tékumel from TSR and moved it on to a succession of additional publishers: Imperium Publishing, Adventure Games, Gamescience, Tékumel Games, Different Worlds Publications, TOME, Tita's House of Games, Zottola Publishing, Guardians of Order.

Due to Dave Arneson's personal friendship with Barker, Adventures Games released several Tékumel-related books, including army lists and other general reference material. Barker's RPG novel The Man of Gold, set in Tékumel, was published by DAW. Despite having had a head start on other in-depth campaign settings and seeing his game released no less than four times with various supplements and magazine articles, many which he contributed to, having

Rachel "Bunny" Meyer is an American YouTuber and beauty vlogger who goes by the username grav3yardgirl. Based in Pearland, Meyer started her YouTube channel in December 2010 made videos about her own personal paranormal experiences and trips to graveyards, she transitioned her vlogs to be more centralized on subjects about fashion and make-up, as well as a series called "Does This Thing Really Work?" which tests out "As Seen on TV" products where she uses and reviews them in a video. Meyer refers to her followers as her "Swamp Family"; as of May 2019, she has 1.5 billion video views. On June 6, 2016, Meyer globally released her Swamp Queen make-up collection in collaboration with Tarte Cosmetics; the collection was sold at several leading cosmetics stores, such as Macy's, Ulta and Sephora, included an eyeshadow palette and two lipsticks. In 2014, Meyer was nominated at the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Web Star: Fashion/Beauty, but lost to Zoe Sugg, she lost to Bethany Mota. Bunny Meyer's channel on YouTube Official website Bunny Meyer on Instagram