Bug FAQWestern Forest Sedgesitter
Platycheirus trichopus · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
Most species in its genus need a microscope to tell apart, but this one can be recognized from good close-up photos of its head.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It belongs to the genus Platycheirus, whose members usually require microscopic examination to identify.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is typically found in habitats west of the Rocky Mountains.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
While most Platycheirus species look alike, P. trichopus has distinctive head features that set it apart when clear images are available.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; 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/Platycheirus_trichopus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.