Bug FAQCobalt Hover Fly
Ocyptamus costatus · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
The cobalt hover fly, Ocyptamus costatus, belongs to the Syrphidae family. It lives in southern Ontario and the eastern United States, where its larvae prey on scale insects.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found in southern Ontario and the eastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The larvae hunt and eat scale insects.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range includes southern Ontario and the eastern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 32 of 51 states and DC. Most records: North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama.
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
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelecinobaccha_costata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.