Bug FAQOrange-legged Drone Fly
Eristalis flavipes · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
The orange-legged drone fly is a hoverfly about 13 to 17 mm long that looks a lot like a bumblebee, with deep-black legs and reddish-yellow joints and tarsi. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from flowers, while the aquatic larvae are filter-feeding rat-tailed maggots. They are active from early April through mid-October and are native to North America.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It strongly resembles a bumblebee, with black legs, reddish joints, brown front tarsi and light reddish-yellow rear tarsi.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The fly measures between 13 and 17 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults visit flowers for nectar and pollen. Larvae live in water and filter-feed as rat-tailed maggots.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are on the wing from early April to mid-October.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
They are active from early April through mid-October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be confused with a bumblebee because of its similar coloration and size.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 39 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Minnesota, Maine, Wisconsin, Vermont, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Alaska.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell this fly apart from a bumblebee?
Look for the deep-black legs with reddish joints and the distinct brown front tarsi and light reddish-yellow rear tarsi; the fly is also smaller, about 13 to 17 mm long.
Source: Wikipedia
When will I see orange-legged drone flies?
They are active from early April until mid-October.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the larvae eat?
The larvae are aquatic filter-feeders, known as rat-tailed maggots.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eristalis_flavipes
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 2026-10-22.