Golden-tailed leafwalker
Xylota sylvarum
The golden-tailed leafwalker is a hoverfly that lives in old woods. Its body is black with shiny golden patches made of flat golden hairs. Instead of sitting still on flowers, it likes to run about on leaves and tree stumps.
Lives in
Europe and Asia, from Ireland and Spain to Siberia, in old woodland
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Hoverflies have no sting and do not bite.
What does it eat?
Its babies grow up in damp, rotting wood full of fungus, usually under the bark of old tree stumps.
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)
Golden-tailed leafwalker about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Each of its wings is about 9 to 12 millimetres long.
2
Its babies live in rotting fir, beech and oak wood.
3
The front four of its six legs are partly yellow.
4
It is a common hoverfly, but you have to look for it in old woods.
you asked
Most asked questions about Golden-tailed leafwalker
?Is the golden-tailed leafwalker dangerous?
No. It is a harmless hoverfly with no sting.
?Where do golden-tailed leafwalker babies live?
In damp, rotting wood under the bark of old trees and stumps.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Xylota sylvarum
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Xylota sylvarum (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 TristramBrelstaff. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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