Common Drone Fly vs Leatherback Sea Turtle

Eristalis tenax compared with Dermochelys coriacea

Key Differences

• Common Drone Fly is Least Concern while Leatherback Sea Turtle is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Drone Fly	Leatherback Sea Turtle
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Reptilia (Reptiles)
Order	Diptera (Diptera)	Testudines (Turtles & Tortoises)
Family	Syrphidae	Cheloniidae (Sea Turtles)
Genus	Eristalis	Chelonia (Green Sea Turtles)
Species	Eristalis tenax	Dermochelys coriacea

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Drone Fly and Leatherback Sea Turtle share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Common Drone Fly

LC — Least Concern

Leatherback Sea Turtle

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~35.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Drone Fly	Leatherback Sea Turtle
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	50 years
Average Length	—	2.0 m
Average Weight	—	500.0 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).

Leatherback Sea Turtle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Indomalayan and Neotropic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Costa Rica, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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.

Leatherback Sea Turtle

The leatherback is the largest living turtle and the fourth-heaviest reptile. Unlike other turtles, it has a soft, leathery shell.