Common banded hoverfly
The common banded hoverfly is a fly dressed up like a wasp, with yellow and black stripes. It can hang still in the air like a tiny helicopter. You will often see it on flowers in gardens and parks.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Gardeners like it, because its larvae gobble up the aphids that hurt plants.
In males the two big eyes touch on top of the head. In females there is a gap between them.
It is a great traveller and flies long distances.
You can see it flying from March all the way to November.
Most asked questions about Common banded hoverfly
?Can a hoverfly sting?
No. It only looks like a wasp. It is a harmless fly.
?What does the common banded hoverfly eat?
The adults eat nectar and pollen. The larvae eat aphids.
?How can you tell a hoverfly from a wasp?
A hoverfly can hang still in the air, has huge eyes and only one pair of wings.
Myth buster
Myth: Hoverflies are wasps and can sting you.
Truth: No. They are flies that only look like wasps. Their stripes trick birds into leaving them alone, but they have no sting.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Syrphus ribesii
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Syrphus ribesii (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Alvesgaspar. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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