Species details

Chrysotoxum bicinctum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Biology

This genus is thought to be associated with ants, with larvae feeding on ant-attended root aphids, although a larva of this species has been reared in the laboratory on pea aphids. Adults are usually found in grassy places, often on the edges of woodland or scrub or along hedgerows where they visit a wide range of flowers.

Distribution

Widely distributed throughout Britain but usually encountered in small numbers. It is most widely distributed south of a line between the Ribble and Tees Estuaries whilst more northerly records tend to occur in coastal and lowland situations.