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Sticker of Northern plushback
Bug card No. 3036 of 4,939

Northern plushback

Palpada vinetorum
Eats: Nectar and pollenFlies and mosquitoesGardens and meadows6 legs

The northern plushback is a flower fly from North America. It has a black back with three greyish half-moon bands and reddish yellow patches on its tummy. Flower flies like this one help flowers by visiting them.

Lives in
North America, mostly Texas and the east coast
Length
1 to 1.4 cm (0.39 to 0.55 in)
Top speed
about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Flower flies have no sting and cannot bite.
What does it eat?
Like other flower flies, the grown-ups visit flowers to feed on nectar and pollen.
For real!Photo of Northern plushback
Picture by xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Northern plushback about 1.4 cm long (0.55 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
as long as 2.5 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 24 secondsmoves 320 times its own body length every second

How big is Northern plushback compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

In the males the two big eyes touch each other on top of the head.

2

Its face is reddish yellow with white dust and hairs on the sides.

3

Its back legs have thick, swollen thighs.

you asked

Most asked questions about Northern plushback

?Can a flower fly sting?

No. Flower flies have no sting, even when they look a bit like bees.

?How big is the northern plushback?

It is 10 to 14 millimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Palpada vinetorum
Group
Flies and mosquitoes
Family
Syrphidae
Classification
Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Palpada vinetorum (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 xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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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