Common Drone Fly vs Dromedary Camel

Eristalis tenax compared with Camelus dromedarius

Key Differences

• Common Drone Fly is Least Concern while Dromedary Camel is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Drone Fly	Dromedary Camel
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Diptera (Diptera)	Artiodactyla (Even-toed Ungulates)
Family	Syrphidae	Camelidae (Camels)
Genus	Eristalis	Camelus (Camels)
Species	Eristalis tenax	Camelus dromedarius

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Drone Fly and Dromedary Camel share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Common Drone Fly

LC — Least Concern

Dromedary Camel

NE — Not Evaluated

Population: ~15.0M

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Drone Fly	Dromedary Camel
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	40 years
Average Length	—	2.3 m
Average Weight	—	600.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

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).

Dromedary Camel

Habitat

Inhabits deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Australia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Sudan.

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.

Dromedary Camel

The dromedary is the single-humped camel, domesticated over 4,000 years ago. The hump stores fat, not water.