Common Flower Fly vs Hairy-Eyed Flower Fly

Syrphus ribesii compared with Syrphus torvus

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Flower Fly	Hairy-Eyed Flower Fly
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (artrópodos)	Arthropoda (artrópodos)
Class same	Insecta (insecto)	Insecta (insecto)
Order same	Diptera (Diptera)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family same	Syrphidae	Syrphidae
Genus same	Syrphus	Syrphus
Species	Syrphus ribesii	Syrphus torvus

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Flower Fly and Hairy-Eyed Flower Fly share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Syrphus.

Conservation Status

Common Flower Fly

LC — Least Concern

Hairy-Eyed Flower Fly

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Flower Fly	Hairy-Eyed Flower Fly
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Flower Fly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (5 countries) and North America (United States).

Hairy-Eyed Flower Fly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), and North America (United States).

Common Flower Fly

<em>Syrphus ribesii</em> is a hoverfly in the family Syrphidae, order Diptera, commonly known as the common flower fly. This species is among the most frequently encountered hoverflies in its range and serves an important ecological role as a pollinator of flowering plants. The species is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. <em>Syrphus ribesii</em> is distributed across Europe and the United States, typically inhabiting gardens, hedgerows, woodland edges, and meadows where flowering plants are abundant. Adults are characterized by yellow and black banded abdomens that mimic the appearance of wasps or bees, providing protection from predators through Batesian mimicry. Adults feed on nectar and pollen, while larvae are predatory, feeding on soft-bodied insects such as aphids and thereby providing a natural pest control service in gardens and agricultural settings. The species is migratory in parts of its range. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 6 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States