Bug FAQBlotch-winged Hoverfly
Leucozona lucorum · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
The blotch-winged hoverfly is a medium-sized fly with wing length about 8 to 10 mm. It has a yellow-dusted face beside a shiny black middle and a noticeable brown spot on each wing. Adults are seen from May to August, most often in June, visiting a range of flowers such as white umbellifers, maple, thistles and dandelions.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The face shows yellow dust on both sides of a glossy black central area. Each wing bears a conspicuous brown spot.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wing length ranges from roughly 7.8 mm to 10 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in deciduous forests, especially near woodland rides, edges, and unimproved montane grassland.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on aphids found on ground-level plants. Adults visit flowers such as white umbellifers, maple, centaurea, thistles, euphorbia, meadowsweet, knotweed, brambles, rowan and dandelion.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are on the wing from May through August, with a peak in June.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Flight period spans May to August, usually peaking in June.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species occurs across the Palearctic from Fennoscandia to the Pyrenees, across Europe into Siberia and Japan, and in the Nearctic from Alaska down to Oregon and New York.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
For determination, compare with similar hoverfly species as listed in specialist references.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alaska, Colorado.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Questions people ask
When can I expect to see blotch-winged hoverflies?
Adults are active from May to August, most commonly in June.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the larvae eat?
The larvae feed on aphids that live on low-lying vegetation.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucozona_lucorum
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.