Species details

Pipiza austriaca Meigen, 1822

Biology

The larvae of this genus are aphidophagous, generally favouring aphids which secrete a waxy flocculence (woolly aphids). But the larva of this species has been reared on Cavariella aphids on Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium. Adults are usually found resting on vegetation along woodland margins, although they occasionally visit flowers.

Distribution

This is one of the most readily identified Pipiza and consequently is probably better recorded than many others in this genus. Widespread but local in southern England, apparently becoming scarcer to the west and north, with records extending into southern and central Scotland.