Episyrphus balteatus

About

Marmalade Hover Fly with opened wings ready for takeoff

The Marmalade Hover Fly is one of the most common hoverflies in Europe and can be spotted all year round. With up to 12mm in length, they are some of the bigger insects to land on flowers. Their color acts as a warning to other animals, that they might be a wasp and shouldn't be eaten. In truth, they are absolutely harmless and have no stinger or any way to attack or fight predators. Like all hover flies, their name comes from the fact that they seem to hover in the air when approaching a plant. The effects stems from the very speed they move their wings at which makes them quite fast.

Sam says

Around Leipzig Auenwald ("River forest"), Marmalade Hover Flies like to mostly sit on yellow and violet flowers. They seem to disregard any red or blue flower as unattractive, but that is just my observation and may not be accurate. The few times, hoverflies moved into my apartment to stay, they became very used to sitting on a hand and being carried around calmly. The last time this happened was in the summer heat, so the fly might have tried to hide from the scorching sun and was very satisfied with sitting on some indoor plants until it got colder again.

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