Bug FAQEastern Calligrapher
Toxomerus geminatus · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
Also called: Eastern Calligrapher Fly
Adults are small flies about 6 to 7.5 mm long and look much like the Western Calligrapher.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The thorax (scutum) is shiny black with faint linear stripes; the side stripes are yellow and the middle stripe is a dull ash-gray.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure between 6.1 and 7.6 mm (about 0.24 to 0.30 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
These flies are often seen hovering over flowers where they feed on nectar and pollen.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adult flies drink nectar and collect pollen from flowers. The larvae are predators that eat various aphids and mites.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Larvae prey on aphids and mites, while adults feed on flower nectar and pollen.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They are common throughout the eastern and central parts of the United States and Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
They are very similar in appearance to the Western Calligrapher.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 40 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont, North Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; 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/Toxomerus_geminatus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.