Hoverfly populations are more stable than those of published analyses of other invertebrate groups. The data show clearly the importance of removing the dependence of the variance on the mean before analysis. The abundance and stability of different larval feeding types (predators, phytophages, saprophages), and of generalists and specialists are discussed. The abundance and stability of the feeding types are not different. Specialization of habitat leads to lower abundance, but has no detectable consequences upon stability. Among predators, extreme specialists are least abundant and generalists are most abundant: both have less stable populations than moderate specialists. There are strong correlations between abundance and distribution, and between local and regional distributions. Abundance is not affected by body size, but larger species tend to have more stable populations.