| Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
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Scientific name: Eristalis pertinax (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Tapered Drone Fly French name: Eristale opiniâtre Order: Diptera Family: Syrphidae Wingspan : 11-16 mm. Biotope: Larvae called rat-tailed maggot live in stagnant putrid water. They feed on bacteria living in water polluted with organic matter. Imagos can be seen on all kinds of flowers. Geographic area: Europe, introduced in North America. Observation period : All year long, but mainly during hot summer days. |
The Tapered Drone Fly looks like a big Honey Bee. The body is dark brown with two large yellow marks on both sides of the second segment of the abdomen. The abdomen tip is black with a thin pale line. The front and mid tarsi are pale yellowish, they are black on Eristalis tenax. The abdomen has a tapering shape, it is more rounded on Eristalis tenax. There is a black stripe between the eyes, but it is thinner than the one on Eristalis tenax. The small antennae are feathery, they are just like a single hair on Eristalis tenax. Adults can over winter. The Tapered drone fly is sedentary, on the contrary Eristalis tenax is very migratory. |
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The Eristalis typical layout of the wings' veins is visible on this picture. You can also distinguish the feathery antennae and the yellow tip of the fore legs which are typical of Eristalis pertinax. |
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The yellow tips of the fore legs allow to tell apart from Eristalis tenax. |
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Here is another specimen where you can see the yellow tarsi on the fore legs. |
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This Tapered Drone Fly, found dead in my garden, allowed me to do a short "Photo stacking" session. This picture is a merge of 49 shots. This provides a large depth of field on pictures with high magnification. |
André Bon April 2021
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