---
title: "Eurasian Drone Fly"
description: "Eristalis arbustorum — Insetti e ragni. Eristalis arbustorum, the European drone fly, is an abundant Northern Hemisphere species of syrphid fly, originally officially described by Linnaeus in 1758 as Musca arbustorum."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/eurasian-drone-fly
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Eurasian Drone Fly

> Eristalis arbustorum — Insetti e ragni. Eristalis arbustorum, the European drone fly, is an abundant Northern Hemisphere species of syrphid fly, originally officially described by Linnaeus in 1758 as Musca arbustorum.

- Scientific name: *Eristalis arbustorum*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Prati e campi), `urban` (Città e giardini)
- iNaturalist observations: 31488
- Wikidata: [Q1746470](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1746470)
- iNaturalist taxon: [320786](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/320786)

## Names

- en: Eurasian Drone Fly
- de: Kleine Keilfleckschwebfliege
- fr: Eristale des arbustes
- nl: Kleine bijvlieg

## Countries with the most observations

US (11732), CA (3858), GB (2807), RU (1788), FR (1013), DE (923), IT (693), NL (597), ES (589), AT (521), PT (473), PL (448)

## Summary

Eristalis arbustorum, the European drone fly, is an abundant Northern Hemisphere species of syrphid fly, originally officially described by Linnaeus in 1758 as Musca arbustorum. The name "drone fly" is related to its similar appearance to the drone of the honeybee. Hoverflies get their names from the ability to remain nearly motionless while in flight. The  adults are also known as flower flies as they are commonly found on and around flowers from which they get both energy-giving nectar and protein rich pollen. The larvae are aquatic filter-feeders of the long-tailed type.

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

## Photo

![Eurasian Drone Fly](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/eurasian-drone-fly/medium.jpg)

Photo: Mardon Erbland · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/320786

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/eurasian-drone-fly?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).