Platycheirus confusus

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Platycheirus confusus
Platycheirus confusus male head.png
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)
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]

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

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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.