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Sticker of Yellow-shouldered stout hover fly
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Yellow-shouldered stout hover fly

Simosyrphus grandicornis

The yellow-shouldered stout hover fly is a chunky little hoverfly with yellow edges along the sides of its chest and yellow feelers. It is one of the two most common hoverflies in Australia. Its babies are great helpers in the garden.

Lives in
Australia and nearby lands, and now some Pacific islands and Hawaii
Length
1 cm (0.39 in)
Top speed
about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Hoverflies cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Like other hoverflies, the grown-ups visit flowers. Their larvae eat aphids, the tiny bugs that suck plant juice.
For real!Photo of Yellow-shouldered stout hover fly
Picture by Ikeshut2. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Yellow-shouldered stout hover fly about 1 cm long (0.39 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailas long as 1.5 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 29 secondsmoves 360 times its own body length every second

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cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The mother lays her eggs right next to groups of aphids, so her larvae have food straight away.

2

Its name comes from its stout, chunky body.

3

In the male the eyes touch on top of the head, but in the female they are apart.

4

People have carried it to several Pacific islands and to Hawaii.

you asked

Most asked questions about Yellow-shouldered stout hover fly

?Is the yellow-shouldered stout hover fly good for gardens?

Yes. Its larvae eat aphids, which are plant pests.

?Can the yellow-shouldered stout hover fly sting?

No. It is a hoverfly and cannot sting or bite.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Simosyrphus grandicornis
Group
Flies and mosquitoes
Family
Syrphidae
Classification
Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
Lives on
Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Yellow-shouldered stout hoverfly

Where the facts come from

  1. Simosyrphus grandicornis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Ikeshut2. CC BY-SA 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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