Merodon equestris
species of insect
Merodon equestris (Narcissus bulb fly, greater bulb fly, large bulb fly, large Narcissus fly) is a Holarctic species of hoverfly (Family Syrphidae).
Like many other hoverflies it displays a colouration pattern similar to a stinging insect (a bumblebee in this case) as an evolutionary defense mechanism. Other syrphid bee mimics are Mallota, Arctophila, Criorhina, Pocota and Brachypalpus. Merodon species are distinguished from these by the very strong hind femora, which bear a large triangular projection on the underside near the tip. It flies in low vegetation while the other bumblebee mimics prefer higher vegetation layers.
Description
A stout fly with a small head (10–14 mm in length). The tergites are black, without the dust spots or blue-purple sheen of other Merodon species. The thorax and abdomen are hidden by dense, long, erect hairs of variable colouration. Tibia 3 of the male has 2 spurs at the apex. The larva is described and figured by Hodson (1932) and it is illustrated in colour by Rotheray (1993).
The public source identifies “Merodon equestris” as species of insect. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Merodon, equestris and species.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1760952. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1932 and 1993.
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This entry incorporates text from “Merodon equestris” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.