Blistering Ammania vs Common Drone Fly

Ammannia baccifera compared with Eristalis tenax

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blistering Ammania	Common Drone Fly
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Myrtales (Myrtales)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Lythraceae	Syrphidae
Genus	Ammannia	Eristalis
Species	Ammannia baccifera	Eristalis tenax

Conservation Status

Blistering Ammania

LC — Least Concern

Common Drone Fly

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blistering Ammania	Common Drone Fly
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blistering Ammania

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, montane grasslands and shrublands, and mangrove forests and coastal wetlands, among 4 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Oceanian and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (5 countries), Europe (Greece, Italy, North Macedonia), and Oceania and the Pacific (Palau).

Common Drone Fly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Chile).

Blistering Ammania

The Blistering Ammania (Ammannia baccifera) is a species in the genus Ammannia. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, montane grasslands and shrublands, and mangrove forests and coastal wetlands, among 4 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Oceanian

Common Drone Fly

<em>Eristalis tenax</em>, the common drone fly, is a hoverfly in the family Syrphidae with a broad global distribution spanning Europe, Africa, North America, and South America, including records from South Africa, five European countries, the United States, and Chile. This species typically inhabits a wide variety of terrestrial and freshwater habitats, from urban gardens and agricultural landscapes to woodland edges and wetlands. The common drone fly is one of the most effective mimics of the honey bee, a resemblance that offers protection from predators. Adults are frequently observed visiting flowers to feed on nectar and pollen, making them important pollinators in many ecosystems. Larvae, known as rat-tailed maggots, are aquatic and typically develop in stagnant, organically enriched water bodies such as sewage drains, manure pools, and polluted ponds, where they breathe through an elongated, tube-like siphon. <em>Eristalis tenax</em> is assessed as Least Concern, with stable and widespread populations. It is regarded as both an ecological indicator species and a valuable contributor to pollination services.