Bug FAQStripe-backed Brusheye
Dasysyrphus albostriatus · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
Also called: Stripe-backed Fleckwing
The adult has a wing length of about 6.3 to 9.5 mm and a black thorax with two white dust-filled stripes and yellow linear spots on the abdomen. It lives in a wide range of woodlands, parks and gardens across the Palearctic region and flies from late April through September.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The thorax shows two central white dust stripes on a shiny black background, and the abdomen has linear yellow spots that may join on segments three and four.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wing length ranges from 6.25 mm to 9.5 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in coniferous and deciduous woodlands, plantations up to the alpine zone, as well as tracksides, clearings, parks and gardens.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae mainly eat aphids but also prey on other soft-bodied insects.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Flight period runs from late April to September.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Native to the Palearctic, from Fennoscandia south to Iberia and North Africa, east through Central Europe to Central Asia and Japan.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
When are these hoverflies active?
Adults fly from late April (early April in the south) until September.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the larvae eat?
The larvae mainly feed on aphids and also hunt other soft-bodied insects.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasysyrphus_albostriatus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.