Margined calligrapher
The margined calligrapher is a small hoverfly with a shiny black and yellow body, like a tiny wasp. It hovers in the air above flowers like a little helicopter. Its larvae are a gardener's best friend.
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Fun facts
In lettuce fields in California, it is the hoverfly that eats the most aphids.
It is often found in cranberry fields.
It follows a special smell that plants make when they are attacked by plant eaters. That leads it to food for its babies.
Its belly has yellow and black patterns that look a bit like fancy handwriting, which is why it is called a calligrapher.
Most asked questions about Margined calligrapher
?Is the margined calligrapher a bee or a wasp?
Neither. It is a hoverfly. It only looks a bit like a wasp and cannot sting.
?What do margined calligrapher larvae eat?
They eat aphids, thrips and small caterpillars, which helps protect plants.
?How big is a margined calligrapher?
It is only about 5 to 6 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Toxomerus marginatus
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Margined calligrapher fly
Where the facts come from
- Toxomerus marginatus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Rhododendrites. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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