Long hover fly
Sphaerophoria scripta (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status not recordedinsects
The long hover fly (Sphaerophoria scripta) is a species in the family Syrphidae, order Diptera.
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Quick facts about the long hover fly
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the long hover fly live?
Not recorded
Is the long hover fly endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the long hover fly classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderDiptera
- familySyrphidae
- genusSphaerophoria
- SpeciesSphaerophoria scripta (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Conops gemmatus, Melithreptus scripta, Musca invisito, Musca libatrix, Musca menthastri, Musca scripta, Sphaerophoria brunettii, Sphaerophoria invisio, Sphaerophoria invisito, Sphaerophoria menthastri, Sphaerophoria menthastri var. violacea, Sphaerophoria multipunctata, Sphaerophoria reducta, Sphaerophoria scripta var. scutellata, Sphaerophoria strigata
Other names and names in other languages (27)
- Common GlobetailEnglish
- Common twist-tailed hoverflyEnglish
- Greenland GlobetailEnglish
- ذباب حوام طويلArabic
- pestřenka psanáCzech
- Almindelig kuglebærerflueDanish
- Gemeine StiftschwebfliegeGerman
- Mosca PlumónSpanish
- isohoikkakirvariFinnish
- Sphaerophore notéeFrench
- tarka darázslégyHungarian
- Sirfide lungoItalian
- stor kulehaleflueNorwegian Bokmål
- Grote langlijfDutch
- stor kulehaleflugeNorwegian Nynorsk
- Kuliboda łąkowaPolish
- Mosca-das-Flores-AlongadaPortuguese
- Шароноска украшеннаяRussian
- pestrica písanáSlovak
- muha trepetavkaSlovenian
- taggsländflugaSwedish
- Çiçek SineğiTurkish
- Повисюха писанаUkrainian
- Gemeine LangbauchschwebfliegeGerman
- Gewöhnliche LangbauchschwebfliegeGerman
- LangbauchschwebfliegeGerman
- Syrphe porte-plumeFrench
Relatives of the long hover fly
Other species in the same genus Sphaerophoria.
Forked Globetail
Sphaerophoria sulphuripes
Black-footed Globetail
Sphaerophoria philanthus
Tufted Globetail
Sphaerophoria contigua
Rueppell's Globetail
Sphaerophoria rueppellii
Loveridge's hoverfly
Sphaerophoria beattiei
Weems' Globetail
Sphaerophoria weemsi
CompareLong hover fly vs Forked GlobetailLong hover fly vs Black-footed GlobetailLong hover fly vs Tufted GlobetailLong hover fly vs Rueppell's Globetail
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the long hover fly?
The long hover fly (Sphaerophoria scripta) belongs to the family Syrphidae in the order Diptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
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Herberstein, M.E., McLean, D.J., Lowe, E. et al. (2022) AnimalTraits: a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size. Scientific Data 9: 265. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01364-9. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6468938 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Environment Agency freshwater fish surveys (National Fish Populations Database) · OGL v3.0 · 2026-11-14
Environment Agency. Freshwater fish surveys (NFPD). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right. https://environment.data.gov.uk/ecology/explorer/ - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products · CC0 1.0 · 0.11
Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference. - Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - Palmer Archipelago penguin measurements (Palmer Station LTER) · CC0 1.0 · 0.1.0
Gorman, K.B., Williams, T.D. & Fraser, W.R. (2014) Ecological sexual dimorphism and environmental variability within a community of Antarctic penguins (genus Pygoscelis). PLoS ONE 9(3): e90081. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090081. Data: Palmer Station Antarctica LTER, via Horst, A.M., Hill, A.P. & Gorman, K.B. (2020) palmerpenguins. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3960218 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision). - Sex-specific median life expectancies from ex situ populations for 330 animal species · CC BY 4.0 · 2018-07
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CreatureData. (2026). Long hover fly (Sphaerophoria scripta). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-hover-fly
“Long hover fly (Sphaerophoria scripta).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-hover-fly.
@misc{long_hover_fly_2026,
title = {Long hover fly (Sphaerophoria scripta)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-hover-fly},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}