Typical habitat includes marshy meadows and ditches, where it can be found between May and October, though it is at its commonest between July and September.

The most distinctive feature of this fly is the red-orange abdomen most easily seen as it takes off or alights.

[1][2][3] For terminology Speight key to genera and glossary 7.7–10.5 mm (0.30–0.41 in) The face is nearly vertical and the anterior oral margin is produced forward.

external images For female specimens, the abdomen is broadly oval, with orange areas similar to males.

The fore femur has short, stiff black setae spaced irregularly on the anteroventral and posteroventral surface.

[10][11][12] Habitat: humid grassland subject to flooding, marsh, fen, edges of raised bogs.