Syrphid flies

An odd word, that: syrphid.

It looks like a word related to, say, syrup, perhaps referring to these guys' propensity for getting face and eyes into the sweet parts of flowers.

But, no, it comes from the Greek, a word for gnat. Disappointing etymology.

I've always been interested in etymology, and entomology too. As a young Linguistics student fifty-odd years ago, I was amused at the half-shelf of books on insects misfiled with books on word origins in our university library.