Rhingia campestris

Rhingia campestris is a species of hoverfly, long, with a wingspan of. It is common across the Palearctic from March until November. It has a broad orange abdomen with a black line along the sides, and has the distinctive long snout of all Rhingia species. Rhingia campestris is the main pollinator for many plant species and due to its long snout it can forage on tubulous flowers. Larvae are associated with cow dung. Adults males feed on nectar, while adult females feed on protein rich pollen, reflecting the cost of developing eggs.

Description

For terms see Morphology of Diptera
Wing length 5.5–7 mm. Snout straight, longer than the diameter of the eye in side view. Tergites with black hind edge and side margins and often with a black mark in the middle of the tergite. Pre-genital sternite black-haired. Tibiae red.
See references for determination

Distribution

Fennoscandia South to the Pyrenees, Spain and the Mediterranean basin. Ireland East through Europe into European Russia and the Caucasus then to Siberia, Mongolia and the Russian Far East to the Pacific coast.

Biology

Habitat: Wood and wetland occurring most frequently on land where cows are grazed. Can feed at pink flowers which have concealed nectar sources, making them unusable by other flies with less extended mouthparts.