Platycheirus clypeatus

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Platycheirus clypeatus
Platycheirus.clypeatus.jpg
Platycheirus clypeatus female
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. clypeatus
Binomial name
Platycheirus clypeatus
(Meigen, 1822)
Synonyms
  • Syrphus clypeatus Meigen, 1822

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. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Description of Male

External images

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

Size
6.0–8.8 mm (0.24–0.35 in) [5]
Face
densely Dusted in yellow or grey, with a slightly shining tubercle. The oral margin is rounded at the bottom.
Platycheirus clypeatus male above, female below. Platycheirus clypeatus male above, female below.png
Platycheirus clypeatus male above, female below.
Legs
Pale with darker markings, including a posterior stripe on the fore femur and the basal two-thirds of the mid-femur. Darker areas also appear on mid tarsomeres 4 and 5, the basal three-quarters of the hind femur, the apical three-quarters of the hind tibia, and the hind tarsus. A tuft of 2-3 long, wavy, tightly pressed white hairs adorns the posterior of the fore femur, complemented by black pile elsewhere (see image). The fore tibia broadens from base to tip and has a pointed posterior angle. The first fore tarsomere (T1) is narrower than the tibia's apex, narrowing on the basal third and remaining parallel-sided on the apical two-thirds. There is a shallow groove below. The other fore tarsomeres are slightly narrower than T1. On the mid-femur, up to 13 short black setae (thick hairs) are present on the basal half, along with 4-6 long downward black setae. The mid-tibia features a strong ventral black pile on its basal half.
Platycheirus clypeatus male front leg, tarsi underside. Platycheirus clypeatus male front leg.png
Platycheirus clypeatus male front leg, tarsi underside.
Thorax
The **Scutum and Scutellum** shine in black, lightly dusted on the sides.
Wings
Brown-tinted and entirely microtrichose, (covered with tiny hairs). The halter knob is brown or yellow.
Abdomen
is parallel-sided, displaying yellow or orange spots on the tergites, sometimes with faint silvery dusting. The second tergite features small, circular spots well separated from the front margin, while tergites 3 and 4 have spots that meet the anterior margins. Tergite 5 is entirely dark. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
Platycheirus clypeatus

For additional information, see these images.

Habitat: Ireland. SalixCinereaHilden.JPG
Habitat: Ireland.

Distribution

Palearctic: Fennoscandia south to Iberia and the Mediterranean basin, Ireland east through Europe into Turkey and European Russia and then from the Urals to central Siberia. Nearctic: Alaska to Ontario and south to California. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Biology

Habitat: grassland and fen, margins of ponds, streams, bogs and lakes, wet ditches and canals. It flies April to September. [4]

Related Research Articles

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

Syrphus ribesii is a very common Holarctic species of hoverfly. Its larvae feed on aphids. In common with many other species of hoverfly, males have the eyes meeting on the top of the head, whilst females have their eyes widely separated.

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

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

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

Platycheirus peltatus is a Palearctic species of hoverfly.

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

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

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

Platycheirus albimanus is a common widespread species of hoverfly. A holarctic species its range includes Greenland, Iceland, Britain, mainland Europe, Russia, across Siberia to the pacific coast, the Philippines, Alaska, western Canada and United States.

<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

Platycheirus manicatus is a species of hoverfly. It is found across the Palearctic and in Alaska.

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

Platycheirus rosarum is a species of hoverfly found in the Holarctic realm. Like its close relative Platycheirus granditarsus, it can be found in marshy meadows and ditches; indeed, the two species can often be found together. The flight time is between May and October, though it peaks in abundance in June and July.

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

Platycheirus ambiguus is a small widespread species of hoverfly found across the Palearctic from Ireland to Japan. A spring species found in flight in April and May, it visits spring-flowering trees and shrubs, e.g., Prunus spinosa in deciduous woodland and scrub.

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

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

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

Platycheirus angustatus is a species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of the Palearctic, and in the Nearctic.

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

Platycheirus discimanus, the Yellowfoot Sedgesitter is a small species of hoverfly. It is found across Europe and the Palearctic and in North America.

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

Platycheirus immarginatus, the Comb-legged Sedgesitter, is a common species of hoverfly. It is found in parts of northern Europe and northern North America.

Platycheirus nielseni is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

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

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

Platycheirus aeratus, commonly known as Coquillett's sedgesitter, is a species of hoverfly.

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

Platycheirus alpigenus is a rare high mountain species of fly. Platycheirus can remain nearly motionless in flight. Adults are also known as flower flies for they are commonly found on flowers from which they get both energy-giving nectar and protein rich pollen. Larvae unknown for this species but Platycheirus are generally aphid predators.

<i>Platycheirus brunnifrons</i>

Platycheirus brunnifrons, sometimes known as the copperhead sedgesitter, is a hoverfly found in high-altitude localities in Finland, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain, Macedonia, Northeast Russia, and Alaska. It's larvae have not been identified. Adults feed on pollen and nectar primarily Salix sp.

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

Platycheirus ciliatus, the Pacific sedgesitter, is a species of hoverfly. They have been found in Canada: British Columbia. USA: Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington. Larvae are unknown.

<i>Platycheirus clausseni</i> Species of hoverfly

Platycheirus clausseni Claussen's Sedgesitter is a fly in the family Syrphidae or hoverfly. It is distributed throughout the Alps, the Altai mountains in Siberia, and Colorado, United States.

References

  1. 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.
  2. Stubbs, Alan E. & Falk, Steven J. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. British Entomological & Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp.
  3. Van Veen, M. (2004) Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: identification keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.addendum
  4. 1 2 Speight, M.C.D. (2011). "Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera)" (PDF). Syrph the Net, the Database of European Syrphidae. 65: 285pp.
  5. 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.
  6. Van Veen, M. (2004). Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: identification keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.addendum.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Coe, R.L. (1953). "Diptera: Syrphidae". Handbks. Ident. Br. Insects10(1): 1-98. R. Ent. Soc. London. pdf.
  10. Speight, M.C.D. & Goeldlin de Tiefenau, P. (1990). "Keys to distinguish Platycheirus angustipes, P. europaeus, P. occultus and P. ramsarensis (Dipt., Syrphidae) from other clypeatus group species known in Europe". Dipterists Digest5: 5-18.
  11. Ohara, Kenji (1980). "he genus Platycheirus Lepeletier and Serville, 1818 (Diptera, Syrphidae) of Japan, with description of three new species" (PDF). Esakia. 15: 97–142. doi:10.5109/2405.
  12. Fauna Europaea.
  13. Peck, L.V. (1988). "Syrphidae". In: Soos, A. & Papp, L. (eds.). Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera8: 11-230. Akad. Kiado, Budapest.
  14. 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. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Government Pub Centre. pp. 1–456. ISBN   0-660-13830-1.
  15. Young, Andrew D (2012). A revision of the Nearctic species of Platycheirus Lepeletier and Serville (Diptera: Syrphidae) (master of SCIENCE). University of Guelph. Retrieved 2012-05-09.