About Stomorhina lunata (Fabricius, 1805)
Stomorhina lunata is a medium-sized, distinctively patterned species of blowfly. Adults reach a body length of 5–9 millimetres (0.20–0.35 in) and a wingspan of 13–16 millimetres (0.51–0.63 in). These blowflies are rather similar in general appearance to house flies, but they can be recognized by a characteristic prominent proboscis, a longitudinally striped thorax, and an abdomen marked with yellow and black bands. Males of this species have large orange patches on the sides of tergites 3 and 4, while females only have grey dust patches in these areas. This distinctively marked species is often misidentified, because its unusual abdominal band pattern matches the pattern typical of hoverflies. This species is present across most of Europe, the Afrotropical realm, the eastern Palearctic realm, the Near East, North Africa, the Indomalayan realm, and the Nearctic realm. These flies usually inhabit meadows.
