Species details

Eristalis arbustorum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Biology

The larva is of the "long-tailed", aquatic type, and is associated with shallow standing water including wet, decaying organic matter around ponds and ditches, farmyard manure heaps and silage runoff. Adults are usually found visiting flowers in open situations such as woodland rides, hedgerows, meadows, road verges and urban wastelands. It is a frequent visitor to gardens.

Distribution

This is a very widely distributed species that is almost certainly occurs more widely in north-west Scotland than records suggest.