Eurasian smoothwing
Its larvae can eat more than 500 aphids while growing, making this wide-ranging migrant hoverfly one of the most effective natural aphid killers.
| Where | Gardens, meadows and open ground |
|---|---|
| Size | 11 to 15 mm body length |
| When | May to September |
It is a large, shiny black hoverfly marked with three pairs of white comma shaped spots down the abdomen, a yellow face, reddish brown antennae, and red legs with a dark patch at the base of each. Its eyes are covered in fine hair, visible only up close.
It migrates widely and turns up in gardens, meadows and open ground wherever aphids and flowering plants are abundant, with its pale green or pink larvae hunting aphids on low plants, shrubs and crops before pupating.
Traits
Habitat
Garden
Colour
Black, White, Yellow
Active
Day
To people
Harmless
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Its abdominal comma markings are yellow rather than the white markings that identify Scaeva pyrastri.
Questions
Is the Eurasian smoothwing dangerous to people?
The Eurasian smoothwing is harmless to people.
When can you see the Eurasian smoothwing?
The Eurasian smoothwing can be seen from May to September, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Michael Knapp, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
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Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.