orange-legged drone fly

not listed

NNR - Unranked

not listed

Orange-legged drone fly is common, hairy, medium-sized, hoverfly. It occurs throughout Canada and in the northern two-thirds of the United States. It is most abundant east of the Great Plains. It is common in Minnesota. Adults are found from mid-May to mid-October mostly in wetlands but also in a wide variety of other habitats. They feed on flower nectar.

Adults are robust and 7⁄16″ to ⅝″ (11.0 to 16.1 mm) in length. They are bumble bee mimics.

The head is hemispherical and slightly broader 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 dark brown and are densely covered with short erect hairs. On the male they meet at the top of the head. On the female they do not. They are not spotted or banded. The face is black and shiny, and is not projected forward. The antennae are short and are inserted near the middle of the head. They are dark brown and have just three segments. At the base of the third segment there is a long, forward-pointing bristle (arista) on the upper side. The arista is bare, not feather-like (plumose). The protruding mouthpart (proboscis) is short and fleshy.

The thorax is black and has three segments. Each segment has four principal exoskeletal plates, one above, one below, and one on each side. The upper (dorsal) plates, from front to rear, are the prescutum, scutum, and scutellum. The prescutum is densely covered with yellow hairs. The hair is dense enough to completely obscure the base color. The scutum is black, shiny, and mostly bare but with dense yellow hairs on the lateral margins. The scutellum is yellow and densely covered with yellow hairs.

The abdomen is black and is densely covered with long erect hairs. It has five segments. The first segment is narrow and entirely black. The hair on the upper side of the basal third of the second segment is yellow, black, or more commonly a mix of the two colors. The hair on the upper side of the third segment and the outer two thirds of the second segment may be entirely black, yellow, or orange, or a mix of two or all three colors. The fifth segment is small and entirely black.

The wings are clear. There is a spurious vein between the radius (R) and media (M) veins. The R₄₊₅ vein is deeply bent (sinuous), appearing “bumped” downward in the middle. The anal cell is long and is closed near the wing margin. The marginal, R₁, R₅, and M₂ cells are also closed.

The legs are mostly black. On the hind leg, the last part of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, is orange. This is the feature that gives the insect its common name.

Total length: 7⁄16″ to ⅝″ (11.0 to 16.1 mm)

Wetlands and a wide variety of other habitats

Mid-May to mid-October

It makes a loud buzzing sound when flying.

Small organisms

Flower nectar

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

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

Common in Minnesota