American hover fly

American hover fly is a small, wasp-mimic, aphideater. In the United States, it occurs east of the Great Plains and there are a few scattered records in California and Arizona. It also occurs across southern Canada. The larvae feed on 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 pomus. Males can be distinguished only by their clasping organs (surstyli).

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 surstyli 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.

Total length: ¼″ to 7 ⁄16″ (7 to 11 mm)

Short-tailed aphideater (Eupeodes pomus) adult male surstyli are short, but they are otherwise identical. Females are indistinguishable.

Meadows, weedy fields, forests, plantations, and gardens

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

Aphids

Flower nectar

Sources

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

Widespread and very common

This species is widely known by the common name “American hover fly.” NatureServe and iNaturalist use the common name “long-tailed aphideater,“ which acknowledges the close similarity to Eupeodes pomus, which is called “short-tailed aphideater.” The “tail” in the name refers to the claspers near the end of the male abdomen.

American hoverfly (Eupeodes americanus) Working
Nature's Wild Things

AMERICAN HOVER-FLY IN SLOW MOTION
R JOHN

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

Location: Woodbury, MN