Bug FAQBlue-polished Drone Fly
Eristalis saxorum · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
Adults visit flowers to drink nectar and collect pollen, while the larvae are aquatic rat-tailed filter-feeders. They are on the wing from about mid-March through late October.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are often called flower flies because they are seen on flowers feeding on nectar and pollen.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
The larvae live in water and filter-feed with a rat-tailed breathing tube.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults obtain energy from flower nectar and protein from pollen. Larvae are aquatic filter-feeders.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The larval stage has not been specifically identified for this species. Adults are active from mid-March to late October.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
They are observed flying from mid-March through late October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
This species occurs in the eastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 20 of 51 states and DC. Most records: North Carolina, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Rhode Island.
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 adult Blue-polished Drone Flies eat?
Adults feed on flower nectar for energy and collect pollen for protein.
Source: Wikipedia
Where do the larvae of this fly live?
The larvae are aquatic and filter-feed, using a rat-tailed breathing tube.
Source: Wikipedia
When are Blue-polished Drone Flies active?
They are on the wing from about mid-March until late October.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eristalis_saxorum
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.