Four-lined hornet fly
The four-lined hornet fly is a hoverfly that dresses up like a wasp. It is black with four yellow bands on its long body. That costume tricks hungry birds, but it is really a gentle fly that loves flowers.
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Fun facts
Hoverflies got their name because they can stay almost still in the air while flying.
Its babies grow up in the soft, rotting wood inside old trees.
Males fly up to high places, like hilltops, and wait there for females.
You can see the grown-ups from June to October in the north of where they live.
Its front and middle legs have thick, swollen thighs.
Most asked questions about Four-lined hornet fly
?Is the four-lined hornet fly a wasp?
No. It is a fly that only looks like a wasp, and it cannot sting.
?What does the four-lined hornet fly eat?
Grown-ups drink nectar and eat pollen from flowers.
?How big is the four-lined hornet fly?
It is about 10 to 16 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Spilomyia sayi
- Named by
- Goot, 1964
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Spilomyia sayi (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 raffib128. CC0, 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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