Its scientific name means "Dangling marsh-lover" (from Greek helo-, "marsh", -phil, "love", Latin pend-, "hang").

It is found throughout Europe from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, westward to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, and through eastward through Russia from the Kola Peninsula south to Crimea and across Siberia to the Pacific Ocean.

[2] Like other members of the genus Helophilus it has black and yellow longitudinal stripes on the upper surface of its thorax.

The only other Helophilus-species having this yellow border is Helophilus hybridus, but males of such species differs from pendulus-males in the black band at base of the tergite two not extending to the sides.

The middle tibia of pendulus is wholly pale, unlike H. groenlandicus, on which it has a dark apex.