18 Oblique Stripetail

Allograpta obliqua

Characteristics

Length: 0.31–0.35 in (8–9 mm).

Flight season: Mostly April–September.

Nectar sources: Various, including fruit trees.

Habitat: Forest, farmland, orchards, parks, gardens.

One of North America’s most common hoverflies, the oblique stripetail is delicately marked. It has a yellow face, reddish-brown complex eyes, a dark-brown thorax with yellowish patches on the sides, and black-and-yellow transverse stripes on the first three sections of the abdomen. On the fourth and fifth segments (tergites) of the abdomen, the stripes run at an oblique angle, giving the stripetail its name. The adults are important pollinators of flowers and fruit trees and their grubs are responsible for eating large numbers of the aphid pests of fruit trees and vegetables.

This insect lives in most parts of the United States, southern Canada, Mexico, and islands in the Caribbean. In the southern part of its range it flies all year; farther north, the flight season is shorter. Eggs are laid near aphids; they hatch after two or three days in the south, up to eight days in the north. The newly hatched grubs then set to work eating aphids, mealy bugs, and mites. Research has shown more than 30 can be consumed by a single hoverfly larva daily. After five to fourteen days, the larvae pupate and then take on their flying incarnation.