Syrphus rectus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Syrphus rectus, the yellow-legged flower fly, is a species of fly in the family Syrphidae, the hover flies. Syrphus rectus is a common fly in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada and has occasionally been seen in Europe. Like many hoverflies, it has strongly contrasting black and yellow bands on the abdomen.
The adults visit the flowers of plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and the larvae feed on aphids. The yellow-legged flower fly flies between April and November. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Legged Flower Fly sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 234th most-seen of the 723 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–July and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-Legged Flower Fly in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August and November–April, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-Legged Flower Fly sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Yellow-Legged Flower Fly sightings, Shenandoah National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Acadia National Park (United States, about 10%) and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Syrphidae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-Legged Flower Fly that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (family Syrphidae, Hover Flies) are Eastern Calligrapher (about 20%), Common Drone Fly (about 20%) and Black-Horned Smoothtail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-Legged Flower Fly is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (16 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.
