Two-banded wasp hoverfly
The two-banded wasp hoverfly is a slim black fly with two bright yellow stripes on its tail end. It looks a bit like a wasp, but it is a harmless fly. Its wings are clear, with a dark brown spot near each tip.
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Fun facts
Its feelers are long and dark, point forward and are longer than its head.
Its face is yellow and almost flat, and its legs are mostly yellow.
You can see it from May to September, most often from June to August.
It lives across Britain and Europe but is usually seen only a few at a time.
Most asked questions about Two-banded wasp hoverfly
?Can the two-banded wasp hoverfly sting?
No. It is a fly with no stinger. Its wasp colours just help scare away hungry birds.
?How big is the two-banded wasp hoverfly?
It is about 10 to 13 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Chrysotoxum bicinctum
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Chrysotoxum bicinctum (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 Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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