Syrphus ribesii

Large Hoverfly ( Syrphus ribesii )

The Great hoverfly or Common Garden hoverfly ( Syrphus ribesii ) is a species of the genus Syrphus from the family of hoverflies (Syrphidae ).

Features

The Great hoverfly reaches a body length of 10 to 12 mm. Her forehead is flat and dyed black, above the sensor it is rust. The compound eyes are hairless, which distinguishes them from the similar hairy hoverfly ( Syrphus Torvus ). The yellow on the sides of mesonotum has only poorly visible longitudinal lines. The scutellum is hairy yellow and black. The abdomen is alternately colored black and yellow, the first yellow band is interrupted in the middle, the following are narrower towards the center. The wings are slightly brown tinted. The legs are yellow, only in the males of the hind legs at the base are dark.

Occurrence and life

The animals arrive in Europe and Asia, east to Japan and also in the Nearctic ago. They are found in almost all habitats. The type flies from April to October in several generations. The larvae are predators and feed on aphids. They eat about 150 aphids per day.

Swell

• Gerald Bothe: hoverflies. 8th revised edition. German youth club for nature observation, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-923376-07-3.
• Joachim Haupt, Hiroko main: flies and mosquitoes. Observation of life. Nature -Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-278-4.
• Nature in NRW