Common globetail
A male's body is longer than its own wings, giving this slender hoverfly an unusually elongated look compared to most other hoverfly species.
| Where | Gardens, meadows, flowering thickets |
|---|---|
| Size | 7 to 12 mm long |
| When | April to November |
It is a narrow, long-bodied hoverfly with yellow and black banding, a cylindrical abdomen, and transparent wings, with males noticeably longer and thinner than females.
Larvae hunt aphids among garden and meadow plants, and the whole life cycle can be completed in as little as sixteen days, allowing several generations to overlap in a single season.
Traits
Habitat
Garden
Colour
Yellow, Black
Active
Day
To people
Harmless; does not bite or sting
Activity through the year
Often confused with
The marmalade hoverfly has a shorter, broader abdomen with a double black band on each segment, while the common globetail's abdomen is narrow and extends noticeably past its folded wings.
Questions
Is the Common globetail dangerous to people?
Harmless; does not bite or sting.
When can you see the Common globetail?
The Common globetail can be seen from April to November, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Rego et al. (2022), CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
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Flies›Hoverflies›Sphaerophoria
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.