Xylota sylvarum

Xylota sylvarum is a common Palearctic species of hoverfly.

Description

For terms see Morphology of Diptera
Wing length 9–12 mm. Thorax blackish. Four anterior legs partly yellow. Abdomen black with golden patches. The male genitalia are figured by Hippa. The larva is illustrated in colour by Rotheray.
See references for determination.

Distribution

Palearctic Fennoscandia South to Iberia. Ireland eastwards through North Europe on to Siberia and the Pacific coast.

Biology

Old woodland species running on the foliage of bushes and shrubs and on tree stumps. The larvae feed in damp, fungus-ridden decaying wood of Abies, Fagus and Quercus trunks and stumps, usually beneath the bark. The major habitat may be decaying tree roots...