Hammerschmidtia is a Holarctic genus of hoverflies whose larvae live in sap under the bark of freshly fallen trees.

The scutum is armed with very evident spines, while the anepisternum, postalar callus, and scutellum have strong bristles.

The abdomen is twice as long as the thorax, and the first posterior cell does not end acutely from the apex of the wing.

The apical section of R4+5 is longer than the crossvein r-m, and the upper marginal cross-vein M1 is curved inwards where it meets R4+5.

The femora are considerably swollen, especially the hind pair, which has numerous conspicuous spines below.