Platycheirus confusus

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Platycheirus confusus
Platycheirus confusus 1.jpg
P. confusus male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Genus: Platycheirus
Species:
P. confusus
Binomial name
Platycheirus confusus
(Curran, 1925)
Synonyms [1]
  • Melanostoma confusus Curran, 1925

Platycheirus confusus, the Confusing Sedgesitter, is a common species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae. It has been found to have and eastern and western North American population. Larvae have been successfully reared on a diet of Adelges piceae . [2] [1] [3] [4]

Description MALE

For terminology Speight key to genera and glossary
external link to photos
Size 6–8.2 mm (0.24–0.32 in)

Platycheirus confusus male front and mid legs. Platycheirus confusus male front and mid legs.png
Platycheirus confusus male front and mid legs.
Platycheirus confusus female body Platycheirus confusus female body.png
Platycheirus confusus female body

The face slopes downward slightly, and the front of the oral margin does not extend as far forward as the tubercle. A broad, shiny stripe runs down the center of the face from the lower facial margin almost to the antennae. The greyish pollinosity on the sides of the stripe appears to have faint oblique ripples. The legs are mostly dark, with only the tips of the femora and the basal three-quarters of the fore and mid tibiae being orange. On the upper two-thirds of the fore tibia, there is a row of weak, posterior setae, with the longest setae being approximately three times the diameter of the tibia. The mid tibia also has a similar row of setae on its upper two-thirds. The thorax has very sparse grey pollinosity, almost appearing bare. The longest scutellar pile is as long as the arista, while other thoracic piles are no longer than half the length of the scutellar pile. The upper half of the pleura usually has dark pile, while the lower half of the pleura has white pile. The halter is brown. The wing is typically brownish and almost entirely microtrichose, with only small bare patches near cells c and bm. The abdomen is parallel-sided, with brown spots on its tergites, some of which are overlaid with prominent silver pollinosity that may even merge medially on tergites 3 and 4. The lateral pile on the abdomen is mostly pale. The surstylus has a stout and almost straight lateral lobe. [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

<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>Eupeodes</i> Genus of flies

Eupeodes, the aphideater flies, are a genus of moderate hoverflies in the family Syrphidae. They are distributed worldwide. They are black with yellow markings and can be easily confused with other genera in the Syrphini tribe. Larvae feed on a wide variety of aphids. The adults feed on nectar and pollen as sources of energy and protein, respectively, and often hover over the plants they visit.

<i>Platycheirus</i> Genus of flies

Platycheirus is a large genus of hoverflies. They are also called sedgesitters. The genus Platycheirus was established in 1828 by Lepeletier and Serville, with the type specimen of Syrphus scutatus Meigen. This genus is primarily Holarctic in distribution, encompassing 70 species within the Nearctic region. Notably, at least 23 of these Nearctic species are also found in the Palearctic realm, with their approximately 110 species.The distribution of Platycheirus is markedly boreal, with half of the 70 Nearctic species in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, or Alaska. The genus is widespread from Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Platycheirus are not found in Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. The genus has a variety of food choices for larvae, ranging from generalized aphid predators to species that specialize in feeding on one or two specific aphid species. Most are feeding within the ground layer of leaf litter.

<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 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.

Chrysotoxum flavifrons, the Blackshield Meadow Fly, is a species of North American hoverfly. They are wasp mimics.

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

Platycheirus coerulescens, the Hooked Sedgesitter, is an uncommon species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae. It occurs throughout northern and western Canada and Alaska, south to California and Mexico at high altitudes

<i>Helophilus obscurus</i> Species of fly

Helophilus obscurus , the obscure marsh fly, is a common species of syrphid fly observed throughout Canada and the northern United States and Rocky Mountains. Hoverflies can remain nearly motionless in flight. The 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. The larvae of this genus are associated with wet decaying organic material, particularly accumulations of decaying vegetation in ponds and mud and farmyard manure or silage the larvae of this species are not known.

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

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

<i>Meromacrus gloriosus</i> Species of syrphid fly

Meromacrus gloriosus, the Glorious Elegant, is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae. Originally described from Mexico by Frank Hull in 1941 this black and yellow wasp mimic has since been observed in many locations in Texas and New Mexico.

<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.

<i>Dasysyrphus laticaudus</i> Species of hoverfly

Dasysyrphus laticaudus, the boreal conifer fly, is a common species of syrphid fly observed in Eastern and Northern North America. Hoverflies can remain nearly motionless in flight. The 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. The larvae of this genus are aphid predators. .

<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. 1 2 "Platycheirus confusus Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  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.
  3. "Platycheirus confusus". GBIF. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  4. 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 15 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  5. 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.