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Sticker of Epauletted hover fly
Bug card No. 1563 of 4,939

Epauletted hover fly

Ischiodon aegyptius
Eats: Nectar and pollenFlies and mosquitoesGardens and meadows6 legs

The epauletted hover fly looks like a small wasp, but it is really a fly. It hovers in the air among flowers, almost standing still while it flies. It lives in Africa.

Lives in
Africa, among flowers
Top speed
about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It only looks like a wasp and cannot sting.
What does it eat?
The grown-ups visit many flowers. Its larvae are hungry hunters that eat aphids.
For real!Photo of Epauletted hover fly
Picture by Sandy Rae. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is a very strong and powerful flier.

2

By flying from flower to flower, it carries pollen and helps plants make seeds.

3

Its larvae are green and plain, with no special markings.

4

Its larvae help gardens, because they eat aphids that suck juice from plants.

you asked

Most asked questions about Epauletted hover fly

?Is the epauletted hover fly a wasp?

No. It is a fly that looks like a small wasp. It cannot sting.

?What does the epauletted hover fly eat?

The grown-ups visit flowers, and the larvae eat aphids.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Ischiodon aegyptius
Group
Flies and mosquitoes
Family
Syrphidae
Classification
Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
Lives on
Africa
Also known as
Epauletted hoverfly

Where the facts come from

  1. Ischiodon aegyptius (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Sandy Rae. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this 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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