The thick-legged hoverfly is a tiny, slender flower fly named for its swollen hind thighs, which are especially bulky in males. Originally European, it reached North America in the 1800s and is now a familiar visitor to flowers in gardens, farms, and parks.
Appearance
- Appearance
- About 1/4–3/8 in (6.5–9 mm) long and narrow. The hind is swollen with a row of small spines underneath. Look for a silvery-gray dusting on the sides of the thorax and paired orange or gray spots on the abdomen.
Look-alikes
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Gardens and parks
- Farmland
- Around compost heaps
- Range
- Originally European; now found across Eurasia and North America and on most continents except sub-Saharan Africa. It is considered an introduction in North America.
- Preferred conditions
- Adults turn up wherever flowers grow, including farmland, gardens, and city parks. Larvae develop in wet, rotting matter such as compost, manure, and silage, including wetlands next to ponds and ditches.
Behavior
- Diet
- Adults visit a wide range of flowers for nectar and pollen. Recorded flowers include water-willow, white vervain, American pokeweed, and candyleaf.
- Activity
- A fast, nimble flier that stays low, rarely above 3 ft (1 m).
- Senses
- Males have big eyes that meet at the front, thought to give them sharp binocular vision. A male tails a flying female from 2–6 in (5–15 cm) away, then darts at her once she lands.
Life cycle
- Larva
- Unlike the aphid-eating larvae of many hover flies, these larvae feed on wet, decaying plant matter such as compost, manure, and silage, and have been recorded damaging daffodil bulbs.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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