Platycheirus angustatus

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Platycheirus angustatus
Platycheirus angustatus female, Trawscoed, North Wales, Aug 2016 2 - Flickr - janetgraham84.jpg
Platycheirus angustatus female, Trawscoed, North Wales
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Subfamily: Syrphinae
Tribe: Bacchini
Genus: Platycheirus
Subgenus: Platycheirus
Species:
P. angustatus
Binomial name
Platycheirus angustatus
(Zetterstedt, 1843)
Synonyms
  • Scaeva angustatus Zetterstedt, 1843 [1]

Platycheirus angustatus is a species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of the Palearctic, and in the Nearctic. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Description of male

For terminology see Speight key to genera and glossary or Glossary of morphological terminology

Length

5.7–7.9 mm (0.22–0.31 in) [6]

Platycheirus angustatus male Platycheirus angustatus male body.png
Platycheirus angustatus male

The oral margin is rounded and not produced forward. The face is densely grey pollinose with a subshining tubercle.

Legs

The legs are mostly pale, usually featuring a posterior stripe on the fore and mid-femora, along with a broad ring on the hind femur and tibia. The hind tarsus is dark. The fore femur has a posterior subbasal tuft of 2-3 long, wavy, closely appressed white setae, while the remainder consists only of short, fine, white pile. The fore tibia is slightly broadened from base to apex, having the apical angle distinctly pointed. The first fore tarsomere is narrower than the end of the tibia and about 1.5 times longer than wide. The remaining fore tarsomeres are a little narrower than the first one. The mid femur usually has a cluster of up to 13 short, anteroventral, black setae on the basal half, which are sometimes less noticeable. The mid tibia is usually adorned with fine, ventral, wavy black or pale pile on the basal half, approximately twice as long as the width of the tibia. The first hind tarsomere is swollen, approximately three times as long as its greatest depth. The legs are otherwise unmodified. [7]

Thorax

The scutum and scutellum are shining, with pollinosity present only laterally. The thoracic pile is white or pale yellow. [7]

Platycheirus angustatus front leg male Platycheirus angustatus front leg male.png
Platycheirus angustatus front leg male

Wing

The wings are usually brown-tinted, with small bare areas at the bases of cells c and bm, while cell bc is mostly bare. The halters are yellow.

Abdomen

The abdomen is narrow and parallel-sided, with tergites slightly longer than wide. The spots of tergites are yellow or orange, never pollinose, and at least slightly longer than wide. The spots of tergite 2 are well separated from the anterior margin, sometimes meeting the lateral margin. The spots of tergites 3 and 4 meet the anterior and lateral margins. Tergite 5 is entirely dark.. [8] The larva is described and figured by Rotheray (1988) [9] See references for determination. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Distribution

Palearctic: Fennoscandia south to North Spain, Ireland east through North Europe and Central Europe, European Russia to Siberia and the Pacific coast (Sakhalin Is.) Nearctic: Alaska to Quebec and south to Washington. [14] [15] [16]

Biology

Habitat: wetland fen, marsh unimproved grassland subject to seasonal flooding. [17] Flowers visited include Cyperaceae, Graminae, Aegopodium , Leontodon , Lycopus europaeus, Polygonum cuspidatum , Ranunculus , Rubus fruticosus . Flies May to September. The larva feeds on aphids.

Related Research Articles

<i>Syrphus ribesii</i> Species of fly

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<i>Platycheirus clypeatus</i> Species of fly

Platycheirus clypeatus is a species of hoverfly. It is found across the Palearctic and in the Nearctic. The larvae feed on aphids. Adults are usually found on the edges of woodland or scrub, heath or along hedgerows where they visit a wide range of flowers.

<i>Merodon equestris</i> Species of fly

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<i>Platycheirus scambus</i> Species of fly

Platycheirus scambus is a species of hoverfly. It is a Holarctic species.

<i>Platycheirus scutatus</i> Species of fly

Platycheirus scutatus is a very common species of hoverfly. It is a Holarctic species.

<i>Platycheirus granditarsus</i> Species of fly

Platycheirus granditarsus, the Hornhand Sedgesitter, is a species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of Britain North America and Europe. 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.

<i>Platycheirus manicatus</i> Species of fly

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<i>Platycheirus rosarum</i> Species of fly

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<i>Epistrophe grossulariae</i> Species of fly

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<i>Cheilosia albitarsis</i> Species of fly

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<i>Criorhina floccosa</i> Species of fly

Criorhina floccosa, is a species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of the Palearctic including Europe.

Platycheirus amplus is a Holarctic species of hoverfly found in wetlands, fens, moorland streams and bogs.

<i>Platycheirus discimanus</i> Species of fly

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<i>Platycheirus immarginatus</i> Species of fly

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Platycheirus podagratus is a species of hoverfly. It is found in the Holarctic.

<i>Eumerus funeralis</i> Species of fly

Eumerus funeralis or lesser bulb fly is a species of Hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. E. funeralis appears in Peck (1988) as a synonym of E. strigatus (Fallen), but was reinstated as the correct name for tuberculatus Rondani, sensu auctorum by Speight et al. (1998).

Platycheirus confusus, the Confusing Sedgesitter, is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae.

<i>Lejogaster tarsata</i> Species of fly

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<i>Brachyopa caesariata</i> Species of fly

Brachyopa caesariata, the Plain-winged Sapeater, is an uncommon species of syrphid fly. It has been observed in Canada, Alaska and northern United States. Hoverflies get their names from the ability to remain nearly motionless while in flight. The adults are also known as flower flies for they are commonly found around and on flowers, from which they get both energy-giving nectar and protein-rich pollen. Larvae for this genus are of the rat-tailed type. B.caesariata larvae have not been described.

References

  1. ↑ Insecta pro
  2. ↑ Ball, Stuart; Morris, Roger (2013). Britain's Hoverflies: An Introduction to the Hoverflies of Britain. Woodstock, Oxfordshire: Princeton University Press. pp. 296pp. ISBN   978-0-691-15659-0.
  3. ↑ Ball, S.G.; Morris, R.K.A. (2000). Provisional atlas of British hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae). Monks Wood, UK: Biological Record Centre. pp. 167 pages. ISBN   1-870393-54-6.
  4. ↑ Stubbs, Alan E.; Falk, Steven J (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide (2nd ed.). London: British Entomological and Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp. ISBN   1-899935-03-7.
  5. ↑ Van Veen, M.P. (2004). Hoverflies of Northwest Europe, Identification Keys to the Syrphidae (Hardback). Utrecht: KNNV Publishing. p. 254. ISBN   90-5011-199-8.
  6. 1 2 Skevington, Jeffrey H.; Locke, Michelle M.; Young, Andrew D.; Moran, Kevin; et al. (2019). Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America. Princeton Field Guides. Princeton University Press. ISBN   9780691189406.
  7. 1 2 Young, Andrew D.; Marshall, Stephen A.; Skevington, Jeffrey H. (17 February 2016). "Revision of Platycheirus Lepeletier and Serville (Diptera: Syrphidae) in the Nearctic north of Mexico". Zootaxa. 4082 (1): 34. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4082.1.1. ISSN   1175-5334 . Retrieved 21 December 2024. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates textfrom this source, which is available under the CC BY 3.0 license.
  8. ↑ Goeldlin de Tiefenau, P., Maibach, A. & Speight, M.C.D. (1990) Sur quelques especes de Platycheirus (Diptera, Syrphidae) nouvelles ou meconnues. Dipterists Digest, 5: 19-44.
  9. ↑ Rotheray, G. E. 1988. Third stage larvae of six species of aphidophagous Syrphidae (Diptera). Entomologist's Gazette, 39, 153-159.
  10. ↑ Van Veen, M. (2004). Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: identification keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.addendum
  11. ↑ Van der Goot, V.S. (1981). De zweefvliegen van Noordwest - Europa en Europees Rusland, in het bijzonder van de Benelux. KNNV, Uitgave no.32: 275pp. Amsterdam.
  12. ↑ Bei-Bienko, G.Y. & Steyskal, G.C. (1988). Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR, Volume V: Diptera and Siphonaptera, Part I. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi. ISBN   81-205-0080-6.
  13. ↑ Coe, R.L. (1953). "Diptera: Syrphidae". Handbks. ident. Br. insects10(1): 1-98. R. ent. Soc. London. pdf
  14. ↑ Fauna Europaea.
  15. ↑ Peck, L.V. (1988). "Syrphidae". In: Soos, A. & Papp, L. (eds.) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera, 8: 11-230. Akad. Kiado, Budapest.
  16. ↑ Vockeroth, J. R. (1992). The Flower Flies of the Subfamily Syrphinae of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland (Diptera: Syrphidae). Part 18. The Insects and Arachnids of Canada (PDF). Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Government Pub Centre. pp. 1–456. ISBN   0-660-13830-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
  17. ↑ Speight, M.C.D. (2011). "Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera)" (PDF). Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae. 65: 285pp.


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