Common Drone Fly vs Lion

Eristalis tenax compared with Panthera leo

Key Differences

• Common Drone Fly is Least Concern while Lion is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Drone Fly	Lion
Kingdom same	Animalia (动物界)	Animalia (动物界)
Phylum	Arthropoda (节肢动物门)	Chordata (脊索动物门)
Class	Insecta (昆蟲綱)	Mammalia (哺乳動物)
Order	Diptera (雙翅目)	Carnivora (食肉目)
Family	Syrphidae	Felidae (Cats)
Genus	Eristalis	Panthera (Big Cats)
Species	Eristalis tenax	Panthera leo

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Drone Fly and Lion share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (动物界)

Conservation Status

Common Drone Fly

LC — Least Concern

Lion

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~23.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Drone Fly	Lion
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	15 years
Average Length	—	2.5 m
Average Weight	—	190.0 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).

Lion

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 7 distinct biome types spanning the Afrotropic and Neotropic and Oceanian realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, and Kenya. 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.

Lion

非洲最大的野生猫科动物，体重可达250公斤，是撒哈拉以南非洲稀树草原和草地中唯一营群居生活的猫科动物。雄狮以其标志性的鬃毛著称。作为顶级捕食者，狮子调节草食动物种群，维持生态系统平衡。因栖息地丧失和人兽冲突被列为易危物种。