Head to head
Drone Fly vs Marmalade Hoverfly
Drone Fly
VS Marmalade Hoverfly
The drone fly and the marmalade hoverfly are two of the commonest hoverflies in gardens, and both are flies that pass themselves off as stinging insects.
| Drone Fly | Marmalade Hoverfly | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Eristalis tenax | Episyrphus balteatus |
| Relationship | A hoverfly, a true fly with one pair of wings and no sting | A hoverfly, a true fly with one pair of wings and no sting |
| Mimicry | Closely resembles a honeybee drone, with a brown-and-orange abdomen | Has an orange abdomen with thin and thick black bands, mimicking a small wasp, about 9 to 12 mm long |
| Larva | A pale rat-tailed maggot with a long, telescopic breathing tube at its rear, living in stagnant pools, ditches, and manure | An aphid-eating larva, each eating hundreds of aphids before it pupates |
| Adult food | Nectar and pollen from many flowers, particularly in autumn | Nectar and pollen from flowers |
| Migration | Travels long distances, with many flies arriving from continental Europe in spring and returning in autumn | In some years hundreds of millions cross the Channel and North Sea north in spring and south in autumn |
| Winter | One of the few hoverflies that overwinters as an adult, and can be seen on mild winter days | Numbers are boosted each year by migrants arriving from the south |
| Conservation status | Not Evaluated, but abundant and widespread across much of the world | Not Evaluated, but abundant across Europe and northern Asia |
Drone Fly vs Marmalade Hoverfly: common questions
What is a rat-tailed maggot?
It is the larva of the drone fly, with a long, telescopic breathing tube at its rear, which lets it live in stagnant pools and manure.
Which hoverfly helps control aphids?
The marmalade hoverfly, whose larvae each eat hundreds of aphids before they pupate.
Can either sting?
No, both are true flies with one pair of wings and no sting, even though they mimic bees and wasps.