Parsley Blacklet

Cheilosia pagana · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae

Also called: Rural Blacklet, Hover fly

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Parsley Blacklet
Photo: This image is created by user B. Schoenmakers at Waarneming.nl, a source of nature observations in the Netherlands., CC BY 3.0

Parsley Blacklet hoverflies have a wing length of about 5 to 8.5 mm and are entirely black, which can make them easy to miss. A bright red-orange third antennal segment helps tell them apart from other black hoverflies. They live in woodlands, grasslands, hedgerows and roadsides across most of Europe and into Siberia and the Nearctic, and they fly from May to September, starting earlier in southern Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The species is uniformly black like many Cheilosia hoverflies, so it can be overlooked. A large red to orange third antennal segment is a key identifying feature.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wing length ranges from 4.75 to 8.5 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in coniferous and deciduous woodland, unimproved grassland, hedgerows on farmland and roadsides.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae develop in semi-liquid, decaying root tissue of plants. They have been reared from decaying roots of cow parsley.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Adults are on the wing from May through September. In southern Europe they can be seen from mid-March.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Flight period runs May to September, starting earlier in southern Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Present in most of Europe and the eastern Palearctic realm. Its range extends east to Siberia and includes the Nearctic region.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

It belongs to the pagana species group, which includes similar species.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alaska.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Parsley Blacklet photo 3
Photo: S. Rae from Scotland, UK, CC BY 2.0
Parsley Blacklet photo 4
Photo: This image is created by user B. Schoenmakers at Waarneming.nl, a source of nature observations in the Netherlands., CC BY 3.0
Parsley Blacklet photo 5
Photo: This image is created by user B. Schoenmakers at Waarneming.nl, a source of nature observations in the Netherlands., CC BY 3.0
Parsley Blacklet photo 6
Photo: Janet Graham, CC BY 2.0

Same family (Syrphidae)

Common Drone FlyCommon Drone FlyEristalis tenaxHarmlessMarmalade Hover FlyMarmalade Hover FlyEpisyrphus balteatusMargined CalligrapherMargined CalligrapherToxomerus marginatusEastern CalligrapherEastern CalligrapherToxomerus geminatusYellow-haired Sun FlyYellow-haired Sun FlyMyathropa floreaThick-legged Hover FlyThick-legged Hover FlySyritta pipiens

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheilosia_pagana

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.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.