Yellow-shouldered Drone Fly
Eristalis stipator
Their aquatic larvae, known as rat-tailed maggots, use a long, snorkel-like breathing tube to breathe underwater.
- Scientific name
- Eristalis stipator
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Diptera › Syrphidae › Eristalis
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Meadows, gardens, wetlands, and forest edges.
- Diet
- Adults feed on nectar and pollen; larvae feed on decomposing organic matter.
- Range
- North America
- Size
- 10-14 mm
- Lifespan
- 1-2 months (adult)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Pesticide use, habitat fragmentation, and loss of wet breeding sites.
- Safe to approach?
- Completely harmless. Although it mimics a stinging bee to deter predators, it has no stinger or venom. You can safely observe it hovering near flowers at a close distance.
Eristalis stipator is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae.
Photo: Thomas Boe, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
Plain-text version: /species/1c7b1d79-7ad2-403a-945d-d183179f1bc8.md