17 Marmalade Hoverfly

Episyrphus balteatus

Characteristics

Length: 0.35–0.47 in (9–12 mm).

Flight season: All year on warm days.

Nectar sources: Many flowers.

Habitat: Meadows, forest edge, farmland, scrub, parks, gardens.

On warm, sunny days these smart orange-and-black insects can be seen hovering near flowers, their wings a blur of rapid movement, before darting away in the blink of an eye. They collect nectar and pollen from a wide range of flat-topped flowers, such as daisies, ragwort, thistles, and knapweeds. The UK’s commonest hoverflies, they also live throughout much of Eurasia and North Africa.

Each segment of the abdomen has dark bands separated by orange bands. If the larvae of a marmalade hoverfly develop in hot conditions, they produce adults with more orange on the abdomen, sometimes almost lacking any black. Conversely, if the grubs grow in cooler weather, the adults will be darker, sometimes almost black. Close examination reveals clear wings with a distinctive pattern of veins, and reddish-brown eyes. If the eyes touch at the top of the head, the hoverfly is a male.

Summer “plagues of wasps” sometimes reported on south and east coasts of England are, in fact, usually migrant marmalade hoverflies arriving from continental Europe. Rather than being harmful, they are beneficial. Not only do the adults pollinate flowers, the larvae eat a range of aphids, including cereal and cabbage aphids.