Bug FAQBlack-bodied Ant Fly
Microdon megalogaster · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
The black-bodied ant fly is 12 to 14 mm long and has bare eyes with a metallic greenish to blackish-green face. Its thorax is metallic greenish with four to six faint bluish stripes, and it lives in north-eastern North America where its larvae develop in nests of black field ants and silky ants.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure 12 to 14 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae are found in the nests of the black field ant (Formica subsericea) and the silky ant (Formica fusca).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range is north-eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 20 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, Wisconsin.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What do the larvae of this fly eat?
The larvae live in nests of black field ants and silky ants.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microdon_megalogaster
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-28 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-28.