Stripe-backed brusheye
The stripe-backed brusheye is a hoverfly that looks a little like a wasp. Its back is shiny black with two white stripes, and its tummy has yellow spots and bands. It loves to visit flowers in woods, parks and gardens.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its larva is a helpful hunter that eats lots of aphids, the little bugs that suck plant juice.
Each of its wings is only about 6 to 9.5 millimetres long.
It visits many flowers, like buttercups, brambles, hawthorn, heather and willow.
You can see it flying from the end of April until September.
Most asked questions about Stripe-backed brusheye
?Is the stripe-backed brusheye a wasp?
No. It is a hoverfly. It has no sting and cannot hurt you.
?What does the stripe-backed brusheye eat?
The grown-up fly eats nectar and pollen from flowers, and its larva eats aphids.
Myth buster
Myth: It is a small wasp.
Truth: No. It is a fly. It has only two wings and no sting, even if its yellow and black colours make it look a bit like a wasp.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dasysyrphus albostriatus
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Dasysyrphus albostriatus (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 Sandy Rae. 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.
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