Bug FAQYellow-legged Flower Fly
Syrphus rectus · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
The yellow-legged flower fly has a black abdomen with bright yellow bands. Adults visit Asteraceae flowers for food, while the larvae eat aphids.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Its abdomen shows strong black and yellow banding.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in the eastern United States, southeastern Canada, and has occasional records in Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults feed on flowers of the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Larvae feed on aphids.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species is active from April through November.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
It flies between April and November.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range includes the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, with occasional sightings in Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It resembles other hoverflies with black and yellow abdominal bands.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 34 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Vermont, Maine, Georgia, Illinois.
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
Questions people ask
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrphus_rectus
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.