Bug FAQSpring Epistrophe
Epistrophe eligans · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
The Spring Epistrophe is a small hoverfly with wings about 6 to 9 mm long and a pale-yellow stigma on the wing. Adults are seen in April to June in woods, gardens, parks and clearings, while the larvae feed on aphids on shrubs and trees.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The wing stigma is pale yellow and the fourth abdominal segment has smaller yellow markings than the third, or may be entirely black.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wing length ranges from about 6.3 mm to 9.5 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in deciduous woodlands, scrub, suburban gardens, parks and also near tracks and clearings.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on aphids that infest shrubs and trees. Adults visit flowers such as white umbellifers, maple, rockrose, hawthorn, hyacinth, spindle, spurge, holly, blackthorn, chickweed and guelder-rose.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults fly from April through June, earlier in the south and later at higher elevations or latitudes.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
The flight period is April to June, varying with location and altitude.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range extends from southern Sweden to Iberia, across Ireland and central and southern Europe to Turkey and the Caucasus.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is a European species of hoverfly and may be confused with other hoverflies.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I see these hoverflies?
Adults are active from April to June, with timing depending on how far north or high you are.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are they found?
They occur in woodlands, gardens, parks and open clearings across much of Europe from Sweden to the Caucasus.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistrophe_eligans
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.