WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Widespread and fairly frequent throughout the UK. Habitat includes: Flower-rich places with herbaceous perennial species such as in gardens, parks, allotments, churchyards, woodland, wetland, flood plains, pasture, dunes, field margins, meadows, hedgerows, field margins, roadside verges, coasts etc. Other names include: Onion Bulb Fly, Lesser Bulb-Fly. ID: The hind femora is entirely hairy without the shiny strip free of hairs found in E. funeralis. Males also lack the small ventral tubercle of the hind femur seen in funeralis. Separating females is more difficult, though the frons of strigatus is more heavily dusted and the 3rd antennal segment tends to be rhomboid rather than rounded. The narrow whitish dust stripes at the front of the the thorax tend to be better developed in strigatus. Life story: Larvae develop in the roots, bulbs and tubers of a wide variety of plants, including cultivated garden species and crops. Flight period: May to September. Diet: Nectar and pollen from composites (I've noted it frequently on Common Fleabane) and umbellifers. Wing length: 4 - 6.25 mm