Eristalis flavipes
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Eristalis flavipes, the orange-legged drone fly, is a species of hoverfly native to North America. It flies from early April to mid-October, and occurs in a wide variety of habitats, particularly wetlands. Hoverflies get their names from the ability to remain nearly motionless while in flight. The adults are also known as flower flies for they are commonly found around and on flowers, from which they get both energy-giving nectar and protein-rich pollen. The larvae are aquatic filter-feeders of the rat-tailed type.
Eristalis flavipes strongly resembles a bumblebee. For terms see Morphology of Diptera. It is 13 to 17 mm long. Head The face, cheeks (gena) and facial stripe are shining black with short yellow pile. The antennae are dark brown and plumose basally. The eyes are broadly contiguous in the male, with eye pile confined mostly to a vertical stripe.
Thorax The mesonotum, pleurae, and scutellum, with very abundant, long, bright yellow pile over shining black except the center of the nearly hairless mesonotum. The scutellum is wholly light yellow. Abdomen The abdomen is a deep shining black with the second segment dark red and covered with long black hairs with... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elk Island National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-Legged Drone Fly sighting in Acadia National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 245th most-seen of the 405 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-Legged Drone Fly in Acadia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to July, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange-Legged Drone Fly sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Orange-Legged Drone Fly sightings, Acadia National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 10%).
Same genus: Eristalis
The closest relatives of the Orange-Legged Drone Fly that you can see in Acadia National Park (genus Eristalis, Drone Flies) are Common Drone Fly (about 20%), Transverse-Banded Flower Fly (about 20%) and Black-Shouldered Drone Fly (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange-Legged Drone Fly is recorded against all the insects logged in Acadia National Park (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
