Bug FAQSpotted Thintail
Meliscaeva auricollis · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
Also called: Spotted Meliscaeva
The thintail hoverfly has a wing length of about 6 to 9.5 mm. It can be recognized by a yellow lunula with a black mark above it and a dark facial knob. It lives in mixed deciduous, evergreen and coniferous forests and visits a wide range of flowers such as white umbellifers, Arbutus, Rubus and Salix.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The lunula is yellow with a black spot above it, and the face has a dark knob.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wing length ranges from 6 to 9.5 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in deciduous, broad-leaved evergreen and coniferous forests.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on aphids or psyllids on trees. Adults feed on nectar from the same range of flowers listed for habitat.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are on the wing from March to October, with a longer season in southern Europe. Larval description is provided by Rotheray (1994).
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Flight period extends from March through October, starting earlier and lasting longer in southern Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is a West Palearctic species, occurring from Fennoscandia south to Iberia and the Mediterranean, and east through Europe into Russia and Turkey.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
For similar species, see the referenced determination guides.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meliscaeva_auricollis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.