---
title: "Ladder-backed Hover Fly"
description: "Melanostoma scalare — Insects & spiders. Melanostoma scalare, the chequered hoverfly, is a very common species of hoverfly."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/ladder-backed-hover-fly
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Ladder-backed Hover Fly

> Melanostoma scalare — Insects & spiders. Melanostoma scalare, the chequered hoverfly, is a very common species of hoverfly.

- Scientific name: *Melanostoma scalare*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows), `urban` (Towns & gardens)
- iNaturalist observations: 7996
- Wikidata: [Q1765048](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1765048)
- iNaturalist taxon: [70405](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/70405)

## Names

- en: Ladder-backed Hover Fly
- de: Matte Schwarzkopfschwebfliege
- fr: Syrphe à tête noire

## Countries with the most observations

GB (4044), DE (542), FR (244), NL (230), DK (167), PT (155), RU (119), AT (109), ES (108), LU (88), IE (77), FI (74)

## Summary

Melanostoma scalare, the chequered hoverfly, is a very common species of hoverfly.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanostoma_scalare

## Photo

![Ladder-backed Hover Fly](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/ladder-backed-hover-fly/medium.jpg)

Photo: Stephen James McWilliam · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77309755

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/ladder-backed-hover-fly?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).