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Sticker of Yellow-legged flower fly
Bug card No. 4904 of 4,939

Yellow-legged flower fly

Syrphus rectus
Eats: Nectar and pollenFlies and mosquitoesGardens and meadows6 legs

The yellow-legged flower fly is a hoverfly with bold black and yellow bands on its body. It is common in the eastern United States and Canada. It loves to visit flowers like daisies and sunflowers.

Lives in
Eastern United States and southeastern Canada, sometimes seen in Europe
Top speed
about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Its stripes make it look like a wasp, but it has no sting.
What does it eat?
The grown-up fly visits flowers of the sunflower family. Its larva hunts aphids.
For real!Photo of Yellow-legged flower fly
Picture by Rhododendrites. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its larva eats aphids, so gardeners are happy to have it around.

2

It flies for a long part of the year, from April to November.

3

Every now and then it has been seen in Europe, far from its home.

you asked

Most asked questions about Yellow-legged flower fly

?Does the yellow-legged flower fly sting?

No. It only looks a bit like a wasp. Hoverflies have no sting.

?What does the yellow-legged flower fly eat?

The adult visits flowers of the sunflower family, and the larva eats aphids.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Syrphus rectus
Group
Flies and mosquitoes
Family
Syrphidae
Classification
Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
Lives on
North America, Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Syrphus rectus (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 Rhododendrites. 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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