American hover fly

(Eupeodes americanus)

Conservation Status
American hover fly
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

American hover fly is a small, wasp-mimic, aphideater. It is widespread across North and Central America and very common in much of the United States, including Minnesota. Larvae feed aphids. Adults are found from mid-April to mid-November in meadows, weedy fields, forests, plantations, and gardens. They feed on flower nectar.

Adults are ¼ to 7 16 (7 to 11 mm) long. Females of this species cannot be distinguished from Eupeodes fumipennis and E. pomus.

The head is wider than the thorax. There are two large compound eyes on the sides of the head and three small simple eyes (ocelli) in a triangle on top of the head. The compound eyes are bare, with no erect hairs. On the male they meet at the top of the head. On the female they do not. The face is mostly yellow but has a brown to black stripe in the middle and a small brown spot above each antenna. The cheek is yellow toward the front, blackish toward the rear. The protruding mouthpart (proboscis) is short and fleshy. The antennae are short and have just three segments. On the third segment there is a stiff, forward-pointing bristle (arista).

The thorax is large, shiny, and black. It is covered with short, erect, yellow hairs, densely on the sides, sparsely above. The exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and thorax (scutellum) is large, rounded, dull yellow, and translucent. It is covered with pale yellow hairs above and has a moderately dense fringe on the rear margin.

The abdomen is longer and broader than the thorax, oval when viewed from above, and nearly flat when viewed from the side. It is black with bright yellow markings. There are five visible segments. On the male, segment 1 is very narrow and entirely black. Segment 2 has a pair of large spots that almost reach the lateral margins. On most individuals the spots are distinctly separated in the middle. On some individuals, they meet in the middle. Segments 3 and 4 each have a broad yellow band that does not quite reach the lateral margins. The forward margin of the band is nearly straight, the rear margin is nearly straight or shallowly concave in the middle. Segment 4 has a broad stripe on the rear margin. Segment 5 is yellow with a narrow black band. On the male the claspers on the genitalia are long and twisted.

The legs are mostly yellow and brownish-yellow. The first segment of each leg (coxa) is black. The base of the third segment (femur) of the front and middle legs is black. The femur on the hind leg is slender, not thickened.

The wings are clear and are mostly covered with short erect hairs. The lobe attached to the base of the wing (alula) is broad and is itself wing-like. The inner third of the alula is bare, with no hairs. There is a spurious vein between the radius (R) and media (M) veins. The anal cell is long and is closed near the wing margin. The marginal, R5, and M2 cells are also closed. The R4+5 vein is nearly straight.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Total length: ¼ to 7 16 (7 to 11 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Meadows, weedy fields, forests, plantations, and gardens

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

Two generations per year: Mid-April to mid-November

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

 

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

Aphids

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

Flower nectar

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30, 72, 82.

Telford, Horace S.. (1939). The Syrphidae of Minnesota. University of Minnesota. Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.

 
  10/9/2021      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Widespread and very common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Diptera (flies)  
 

Suborder

Brachycera  
 

Infraorder

Muscomorpha (=Cyclorrhapha)  
  Zoosection Aschiza  
 

Superfamily

Syrphoidea  
 

Family

Syrphidae (hover flies)  
 

Subfamily

Syrphinae (typical hover flies)  
 

Tribe

Syrphini  
 

Genus

Eupeodes (aphideaters)  
  Subgenus Metasyrphus  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Metasyrphus wiedemanni

Syrphus americanus

Syrphus canadensis

Syrphus lebanoensis

Syrphus medius

Syrphus wiedemanni

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

American hover fly

American hoverfly

long-tailed aphideater

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Alula

A broad lobe at the base of the wing of some flies and beetles.

 

Arista

A large bristle on the upper side of the third segment of the antenna of a fly.

 

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

 

Ocellus

Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.

 

Proboscis

The tube-like protruding mouthpart(s) of a sucking insect.

 

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

 

Spurious vein

A longitudinal, thickened line between the radius and media veins. It resembles a true vein but is not connected to any other veins.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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R Zahn

 
    American hover fly   American hover fly  
 

Alfredo Colon

 
    American hover fly   American hover fly  
           
    American hover fly      
           
 
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Other Videos
 
  American hoverfly (Eupeodes americanus) Working
Nature's Wild Things
 
   
 
About

Published on Mar 4, 2017

American Hoverfly (Eupeodes americanus)
Working
Video 30 sec long 100% Speed - Audio None
Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States
Photo Walk - 10-14-2016

 
  AMERICAN HOVER-FLY IN SLOW MOTION
R JOHN
 
   
 
About

Published on Aug 14, 2015

AMERICAN HOVER-FLY IN SLOW MOTION

 
  Metasyrphus americanus (drone fly, American hover fly) foraging, 8/24/13, MD
metapathogen
 
   
 
About

Published on Sep 8, 2013

Metasyrphus americanus (drone fly, American hover fly) foraging, 8/24/13, MD

 

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 
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  R Zahn
8/23/2019

Location: Grand Marais, Mn

Out on Lake Superior. Large number of them on my fishing boat.

American hover fly

 
  Alfredo Colon
8/20/2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

American hover fly

 
  Alfredo Colon
8/5/2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

American hover fly

 
  Alfredo Colon
7/23/2018

Location: Woodbury, MN

American hover fly

 
           
 
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Created 2/21/2019

Last Updated:

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