Maize calligrapher

Toxomerus politus

Eats: Nectar and pollen Flies and mosquitoesGardens and meadows6 legs

The maize calligrapher is a small hoverfly with a black and yellow body and almost clear wings. It hovers over corn fields and eats corn pollen. Like other hoverflies it looks a bit like a little wasp, but it cannot sting.

Lives in

North, Central and South America, often around corn fields

Length

8 to 9 mm (0.31 to 0.35 in)

Top speed

about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It is a fly and has no sting.

What does it eat?

It eats pollen from corn plants, and its larvae probably do too.

Photo of Maize calligrapher — Picture by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

small enough to sit on your fingernailas long as 1.5 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 29 secondsmoves 400 times its own body length every second

How big is Maize calligrapher 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)

Maize calligrapher about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

It belongs to the hoverflies, which can stand still in the air like tiny helicopters.

Its yellow face has white dust and white hairs on the sides.

Scientists still know very little about its babies, but they seem to live on corn plants too.

you asked

Most asked questions about Maize calligrapher

?Can the maize calligrapher sting?

No. It is a hoverfly and has no sting, even though it looks a bit like a wasp.

?What does the maize calligrapher eat?

Pollen from corn plants.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Toxomerus politus
Group: Flies and mosquitoes
Family: Syrphidae
Classification: Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
Lives on: North America, South America

Where the facts come from

Toxomerus politus (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 Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. CC BY 2.0, 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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