A robust flower fly, approximately 1/2 inch (13 mm) long. It is yellowish brown with gray and black bands on the thorax. It has clear wings, brown and yellow legs and dark brown eyes. Hind tibiae are arc-shaped and thickened.
The individual shown was photographed in the restored butterfly garden in the Fontenelle Forest wetlands in August 2018. It is found coast to coast and throughout the tropics into Argentina.
It is closely related and similar in appearance to flies in the genus Eristalis. There are eleven species in the genus Palpada. Like Eristalis, the larvae are predaceous and aquatic and are known as “rat-tailed maggots” for the fact that they have a long breathing tube that extends to the surface of the water for breathing.
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