Small hover fly
The small hover fly is a shiny black fly with three pairs of yellow patches on its tummy. It has big dark red eyes. It lives only in New Zealand, where farmers are happy to see it.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its babies eat aphids and small caterpillars, so they help protect crops from pests.
The adults like the pollen of dandelions and plantain.
Its babies have no legs. They breathe through a little tube at the back end of their body.
Its eggs are white and can be laid one by one or in little groups.
When it sits still, it folds its wings flat over its body.
Most asked questions about Small hover fly
?Is the small hover fly dangerous?
No. Hover flies cannot sting or bite people.
?What does the small hover fly eat?
The adults eat pollen and nectar, and the babies eat aphids and small caterpillars.
?Where does the small hover fly live?
Only in New Zealand, mostly in fields and gardens.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Melanostoma fasciatum
- Named by
- Macquart, 1850
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Melanostoma fasciatum (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 Steve Kerr. CC BY 4.0, 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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