Platycheirus clypeatus

Platycheirus clypeatus
Platycheirus clypeatus female
Scientific classification
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]}

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.

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.

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]}

• General Anatomy click to enlarge
• 
  Legs
• 
  Head
• 
  Wing
• 
  Bod

Image links

For additional information, see these images.

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]

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. Speight, M.C.D. (2011). "Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera)" (PDF). Syrph the Net, the Database of European Syrphidae. 65: 285pp.
5. 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.