Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Genus Eristalis - Drone Flies

Syrphid fly - Eristalis arbustorum - female Transverse Flower Fly? - Eristalis transversa - male Unknown Fly - Eristalis transversa Syphrid Fly - Eristalis dimidiata fly - Eristalis hirta Eristalinae - E. tenax? - Eristalis stipator - female Hoverfly - Eristalis tenax Eristalis sp - Eristalis stipator
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Aschiza")
Family Syrphidae (Hover Flies)
Subfamily Eristalinae
Tribe Eristalini
Subtribe Eristalina
Genus Eristalis (Drone Flies)
Other Common Names
Drone Flies (sometimes applied to E. tenax only), Rat-tailed Maggots (larvae of E. tenax)
Pronunciation
ih-RISS-tah-liss
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
reviewed in(1)
Explanation of Names
Eristalis Latreille 1804
Latin eristalis, a kind of gemstone, maybe opal (likely what Latreille meant)
Numbers
2 subgenera, with 20 spp. in our area(2) and ~100 total(3)
Size
7-17 mm
Identification
Some species (e.g., E. tenax) resemble honey bees. Others are darker, less hairy, e.g. E. dimidiatus, E. nemorum.
Wing
Keys to species by Bill Dean at
Larva's anterior spiracles dark brown; prolegs with crochets in three rows with spicules gradually becoming smaller below
Range
Holarctic, Neotropical, Afrotropical, Oriental(3); E. tenax is introduced from Europe
Season
Mar-Nov in NC(4), Apr-Oct in MN
Food
Adults take nectar. Larvae feed on small organisms in stagnant water.
Life Cycle
Larvae, at least of E. tenax, live in eutrophic water, have tail that serves as "snorkel" for breathing. They are called rat-tailed maggots.
Larva, puparium, female ovipositing
Remarks
Eggs of E. tenax are occasionally swallowed by humans and the larvae live in the human intestinal tract, where they cause "myiasis". E. tenax sometimes emerges from carrion, closely resembles honey bee. This may account for the biblical story of honeybees nesting in a dead lion.
Works Cited
1.Eristalis (Diptera: Syrphidae) from America North of Mexico
Telford H.S. 1970. Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 63(5): 1201-1210.
2.Key to the genera of nearctic Syrphidae
Miranda G.F.G, Young A.D., Locke M.M., Marshall S.A., Skevington J.H., Thompson F.C. 2013. CJAI 23: 1‒351.
3.Austalis, a new genus of flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) with revisionary notes on related genera
Thompson F.C. 2003. Zootaxa 246: 1-19.
4.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.