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Sticker of Parsley blacklet
Bug card No. 3261 of 4,939

Parsley blacklet

Cheilosia pagana
Eats: Nectar and pollenFlies and mosquitoesGardens and meadows6 legs

The parsley blacklet is a small black hoverfly. Most hoverflies have yellow stripes, so people often do not notice this one is a hoverfly at all. Look for its big orange feelers.

Lives in
Most of Europe, across Asia to Siberia, and North America
Top speed
about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Hoverflies have no sting and do not bite.
What does it eat?
The adults visit flowers for nectar and pollen. The larvae live in the soft, rotting roots of plants.
For real!Photo of Parsley blacklet
Picture by Sandy Rae. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Each wing is about 5 to 8.5 millimetres long.

2

Its larvae live in mushy, rotting roots. One was raised from the roots of cow parsley.

3

It visits many flowers, such as buttercups, wood anemones, wild garlic, primroses and willows.

4

It flies from May to September. In southern Europe it can be out already in mid-March.

you asked

Most asked questions about Parsley blacklet

?Is the parsley blacklet a bee or a fly?

It is a fly, a kind of hoverfly. It is all black, so it does not look like a bee at all.

?Does the parsley blacklet sting?

No. Hoverflies have no sting and are harmless.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Cheilosia pagana
Group
Flies and mosquitoes
Family
Syrphidae
Classification
Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Cheilosia pagana (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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