This is an orange and black hoverfly which slightly resembles an Ichneumon wasp. Adults are characteristically seen running about, or sunbathing, on leaves in hedgerows and woodland.

They have a preference for feeding on honey-dew secreted by aphids and can be seen sucking it off the leaf surface; they are rarely found at flowers. Wet, very rotten dead wood is the usual breeding site. This species is widespread and usually common in, or near, woods.