Ladder-backed hover fly
Melanostoma scalare
The ladder-backed hover fly is a small, slim hoverfly with a shiny black chest. Its tummy has yellow markings in a row, a bit like the steps of a ladder. It is a very common fly in gardens and meadows.
Lives in
Most of Europe, North Africa, the Near East, parts of Africa and Asia to New Guinea
Length
0.7 to 1 cm (0.28 to 0.39 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Hoverflies have no sting.
What does it eat?
The adults feed on flowers. The larvae eat aphids.
How big is it?
How long is it?
💅small enough to sit on your fingernail🍚as long as 1.5 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 29 seconds⚡moves 360 times its own body length every second
How big is Ladder-backed hover fly compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Ladder-backed hover fly about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
You can tell boys from girls by their spots: the males have round or diamond spots, the females have triangles.
2
The males are longer and slimmer than the females.
3
Adults can be seen flying from April all the way to November.
you asked
Most asked questions about Ladder-backed hover fly
?Is the ladder-backed hover fly a bee?
No. It is a fly. It cannot sting, even though it has yellow markings.
?What does the ladder-backed hover fly eat?
The adults visit flowers, and the larvae eat aphids.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Melanostoma scalare
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Chequered hoverfly
Where the facts come from
- Melanostoma scalare (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 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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