Orange legionnaire

Description

Beris vallata, the orange legionnaire or common orange legionnaire, is a European species of soldier fly. Body length 5.0 to 6.0 mm. Abdomen entirely matt yellow, without black bands. All tibiae black in apical half. Wings of female yellowish with brown pterostigma; wings of male blackish. Pubescence of abdomen black in male, yellow in female. The flight period is may to September. A hedgerow species. One larvae microhabitat is Bryophyta. The larva feeds on dead leaves and puparia have been found among fallen decomposing leaves. Adults feed on pollen and nectar including that of Tanacetum vulgare. North Europe, Central Europe, Southwest Europe, north up to Sweden.European Russia. Beris is a genus of flies in the family Stratiomyidae. They are small flies with reduced palpi. The scutellum has spines and the abdomen has seven visible segments. Their eyes are contiguous in the male.