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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Aschiza" » Hover Flies (Syrphidae) » Eristalinae » Eristalini » Eristalina » Drone Flies (Eristalis) » Subgenus Eoseristalis (Eristalis Subgenus Eoseristalis) » Eristalis hirta
Photo#834136
Fly that mimics a bee - Eristalis hirta
Copyright © 2013 Kim Davis & Mike Stangeland

Fly that mimics a bee - Eristalis hirta
Hwy. 1, north of Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, California, USA
August 31, 2013
This amazing fly was visiting California Buckwheat along with honey bees and is about the same size as a honey bee. I can't seem to find it on BugGuide. Can anyone help with ID? Thanks in advance!

Images of this individual: tag all
Fly that mimics a bee - Eristalis hirta Fly that mimics a bee - Eristalis hirta Fly that mimics a bee - Eristalis hirta Fly that mimics a bee - Eristalis hirta
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Contributed by Kim Davis & Mike Stangeland on 1 September, 2013 - 3:18am
Last updated 8 October, 2014 - 8:00pm

Moved
Moved from Subgenus Eoseristalis.
… Martin Hauser, 8 October, 2014 - 8:00pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Syrphid Flies.
… Martin Hauser, 9 November, 2013 - 5:02pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Flies.
… John F. Carr, 1 September, 2013 - 7:56am login or register to post comments

Syrphid, maybe Eristalis
This is a syrphid fly, perhaps Eristalis or a related species. Here's an Eristalis on California Buckwheat:

… nvhamlett@gmail.com, 1 September, 2013 - 3:29am login or register to post comments

 
Thank you Nancy for the reply
The photo you posted is so close, but the eyes are fused at the top on my fly and they are not fused at the top on the photo you attached. I looked at the other photos of your attached specimen and the faces don't match. I loaded two more photos of my fly which show the face better. Thanks!
… Kim Davis & Mike Stangeland, 1 September, 2013 - 3:59am login or register to post comments

 
Eyes on male vs female
The eyes of male hover flies touch (or almost touch) each other in the middle. Females' eyes are spaced farther apart. You can see a nice diagram here. BugGuide also has some photos that show male and female syrphids of the same species, like this series of Eristalis tenax and these photos of mating Toxomerus marginatus, which illustrate the difference in male and female faces.

I'm sure an expert will come along to give your syrphid a more specific ID.
… nvhamlett@gmail.com, 1 September, 2013 - 9:36am login or register to post comments

 
Nancy, thank you again!
That's wonderful information about the different eye configurations! My husband and I were thinking these were two separate species mainly because of the eyes. I appreciate your kindness and patience with these newbie questions. We have a lot to learn!
… Kim Davis & Mike Stangeland, 1 September, 2013 - 12:26pm login or register to post comments

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