Appearance
Wing length 8·25–12 mm. Antennomere 3 brownish-black. Arista plumose on basal half. Squamulae greyish-black. Thorax and abdomen covered with long densely placed hairs, varying in colour from tawny to black. Typical form dimorphic.
Distribution
Palaearctic Fennoscandia, Iceland and the Faroes South to central Spain, montane in the southern limit of its range and absent from most of South Europe. Ireland East through North Europe and Central Europe, Alps, into Russia as far as East Siberia.Habitat
Flight time of adults in the UK are from March to September. It is generally widespread, but is seldom seen in large numbers. Habitat is woodland or marshland.The habitat is wetland; raised bog, fen, fen carr, poorly-drained deciduous forest and humid, seasonally-flooded grassland, boreal forests, taiga, montane tundra.
Reproduction
The flight period is mid April to end August. The larvae occur in mud and fen peat beside water, in field drains, slurry and in cow dung on water-logged ground.Food
Flowers visited include white umbellifers yellow composites, Ranunculaceae, ''Armeria maritima'', ''Cakile'', ''Calluna vulgaris'', ''Cirsium'', ''Crataegus'', ''Filipendula'', ''Jasione'', ''Ligustrum'', ''Lythrum'', ''Mentha'', ''Polygonum cuspidatum'', ''Prunus spinosa'', ''Pyrus communis'', ''Rhododendron'', ''Rubus'', ''Salix'', ''Succisa''.References:
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