Common halfband
The common halfband is a little hoverfly from Australia. It can hang in the air in one spot like a tiny helicopter. It has an all-black chest and is one of the most common hoverflies in Australia.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Common halfband compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its babies eat aphids, so gardeners are happy to have it around.
People often mix it up with another common Australian hoverfly, but its all-black chest gives it away.
Some books said it lived in New Zealand too, but that turned out to be a mistake.
Most asked questions about Common halfband
?Is the common halfband a bee?
No. It is a hoverfly. It has no sting, even though it visits flowers like a bee.
?What do hoverfly babies eat?
This hoverfly's babies eat aphids, which helps protect garden plants.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Melangyna viridiceps
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Common hover fly
Where the facts come from
- Melangyna viridiceps (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 Toby Hudson. 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.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Housefly
New World screwworm fly
Lovebug
Tsetse fly
Common fruit fly
Asian tiger mosquito
Dark grass blue
Privet leafhopper
Spiraea aphid
Gram blue
Alexander beetle
Red-spotted plant bug