Common Halfband
Melangyna viridiceps
They possess incredible flight mechanics, capable of hovering perfectly still in mid-air, flying backwards, and sideways to evade predators.
- Scientific name
- Melangyna viridiceps
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Diptera › Syrphidae › Melangyna
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Grasslands, agricultural crops, suburban gardens, and open forest glades.
- Diet
- Adults feed on nectar and pollen; larvae are voracious predators of aphids and other soft-bodied pests.
- Range
- Australia, New Zealand
- Size
- Body length of 7 to 10 mm.
- Lifespan
- Adults live for 1 to 2 months; entire life cycle is around 6 to 8 weeks.
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Broad-spectrum chemical pesticides and herbicides that eliminate weed blossoms.
- Safe to approach?
- Completely harmless to humans. Although their black-and-yellow stripes mimic wasps to deter predators, they possess no stinger or venom. Safe to observe at any distance. If one lands on you, it is merely seeking moisture or salt from your skin; you can gently blow on it to encourage it to fly away.
Melangyna viridiceps is an Australian hoverfly, known as the common hover fly . It is found widely across Eastern Australia. It is one of the two most common hoverflies in Australia, alongside Simosyrphus grandicornis , with which it has often been confused, but can be distinguished by its all black thorax. The adult flies feed on pollen and nectar which they gather from flowers, while the larvae feed on aphids.
Photo: Terra Occ, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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