# Large-tailed Aphideater

*Eupeodes volucris*

They are exceptional aerial acrobats, capable of flying backward, sideways, and hovering perfectly still in mid-air to scout for mates or flowers.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Diptera › Syrphidae › Eupeodes
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Meadows, agricultural fields, gardens, roadsides, and forest edges.
- **Diet:** Adults feed on nectar and pollen; larvae are active predators of aphids, thrips, and other soft-bodied insects.
- **Range:** North America, Central America
- **Size:** 8 to 12 mm in length
- **Lifespan:** 1 to 2 months as adults; up to 1 year including overwintering larval stages.
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Widespread pesticide and insecticide use, loss of wild meadows, and intensive monoculture farming.
- **Safe to approach?:** Completely harmless. Though they mimic wasps to deter predators, they possess no stinger and cannot bite. You can safely observe them hovering at close range; they may even land on your skin to sip sweat for essential salts.

## About

Eupeodes volucris , the bird hover fly , is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/87ef80d4-ccfd-49a8-8554-f119277dbeee
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/322357
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eupeodes volucris
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/1611097/medium.jpg (Ken-ichi Ueda, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.