#3752 · 🪰 flies & mosquitoes

Common Drone Fly

🇳🇱 Blinde bij ·Eristalis tenax

🪰 Flies & mosquitoes 📍 in the Netherlands

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © hobiecat · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Matthew Gilbert Koons · CC BY-ND 4.0
3. © Drepanostoma · CC BY 4.0
4. © Nathan Reading · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
5. © Gianni Del Bufalo bygdb · CC BY 4.0
6. © Ferran Turmo Gort · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
7. © Josh van der Meulen · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
8. © Philip Mark Osso · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. © ahabo · CC BY 4.0
10. © Rob Curtis · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

what is it?

Eristalis tenax is a hoverfly, also known as the drone fly (or "dronefly"). It is migratory and cosmopolitan, the most widely distributed syrphid species in the world, and is known from all regions except the Antarctic. It has been introduced into North America and is widely established.

base stats

NL sightings 4,482iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 120,490iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 4,482 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #1 most seen of the flies & mosquitoes in NL.
120,490 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).