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Classification:

Xylota segnis belongs to the subfamily Eristalinae, tribe Milesiini.

Distribution:

Throughout Europe except for the extreme north; North Africa; the Caucasus; through Eurasia to the Pacific coast and Japan; eastern parts of North America.

Habitat:

Most types of coniferous and deciduous forest, parks and gardens.

Description:

Body lenght 10 - 13 mm; mesonotum and scutellum metallic shiny; antennae dark; abdomen at the front and rear ends black, abdominal segments 2 and 3 orange/reddish, sometimes with a black longitudinal stripe in the middle; legs yellow and black colored; femora black; hind femora with 2 rows of large spines at the underside; wings slightly brownish with brown wing-mark; halteres light yellow.

Similar species:

A similar species is Brachypalpoides lentus, which, however, has completely black legs.

Biology:

Xylota segnis flies in 2 (to 3) generations from April to October. It is the most common species of the genus. The imagines are mostly found in sunny spots on the leaves of shrubs and bushes. They eat pollen grains that have fallen on the leaves and pollen grains from the feces of other hoverflies. Adults also visit flowers of umbelliferae, hazel, hawthorn, ivy, goldenrod, rowan, linden and snowball tree.
The saprophagous larvae of Xylota segnis live in dead wood, wet sawdust, rotting plant material, under bark and in sap runs of living trees. The species overwinters as a larva.

Predators:

Rhembobius perscrutator (Thunberg, 1822) - Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae

References, further reading, links:

1. Pape T. & Thompson F.C. (eds) (2017). Systema Dipterorum (version 2.0, Jan 2011). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2017 Annual Checklist (Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds.). Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2017. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-884X.
2. Gerald Bothe: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) Deutschlands und der Niederlande, DJN, 1984, ISBN 3-923376-07-3
3. M.C.D.Speight: Species Accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera), Glasgow 2011, Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, vol. 65, 285 pp., Syrph the Net publications, Dublin.
4. Menno Reemer, Willem Renema, Wouter van Steenis, Theo Zeegers, Aat Barendregt, John T. Smit, Mark P. van Veen, Jeroen van Steenis, Laurens van der Leij: De Nederlandse Zweefvliegen (Diptera: Syrphidae), Nederlandse Fauna 8, 2009.
5. Speight, M.C.D. & Sarthou, J.-P. (2014) StN keys for the identification of the European species of various genera of Syrphidae (Diptera) 2014 / Clés StN pour la détermination des espèces Européennes de plusieurs genres des Syrphidae (Diptères) 2014. Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, Vol. 80, 125 pp, Syrph the Net publications, Dublin