Sphaerophoria

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Sphaerophoria
Sphaerophoria.scripta.male.jpg
Sphaerophoria scripta male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Subfamily: Syrphinae
Tribe: Syrphini
Genus: Sphaerophoria
Le Peletier & Serville, 1828
Type species
Musca scripta [1]
Synonyms

Sphaerophoria is a genus of hoverflies. [2]

Species slender 5.6-12mm long with extremely large hemispherical male terminalia, after which the common name globetail was created (see gallery). There are bright yellow markings on head and thorax and usually on the abdomen but some species have a black abdomen. They can be found worldwide but are common in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. There are over 73 described species. [3]

Contents

The larvae--when known--are aphidophagous. [4]

Diagnostics

For terminology see Speight key to genera and glossary The male has a yellow frons, rarely with a pair of black spots above the antennae, while the female has a median black stripe. The face is usually yellow, often with black markings, and has a prominent tubercle that only recedes slightly to the lower facial margin. The eyes are bare. The scutum is glossy black with a wide yellow stripe that either terminates at the transverse suture or extends to the scutellum. The pleura have black coloring with bright yellow patterns. The anterior anepisternum is bare. The upper and lower katepisternal hair patches are distinct from each other, with the former usually extending ventrally in a triangular shape about three-quarters of the distance from the upper to lower margin of the sclerite. The meron and metapleuron are both devoid of hair, and the metasternum has some. There are small bare areas on the basal one-third of the wing membrane.

Males have an abdomen is that is slender, unmargined, and parallel-sided or slightly constricted near the middle. The fifth segment on the right side has a bluntly rounded posterior extension. Females have an abdomen that is parallel or slightly widened in the middle.

Male genitalia

The epandrium is typically very large, almost as wide as segment 5 and usually slightly longer than wide, with the posterior being slightly wider. The cerci are usually enclosed in a sclerotized layer of the epandrium. The surstylus is usually detailed and divided into three lobes. The dorsal lobe is slightly swollen at the top, round, and has a thick mass of long, coarse yellow hairs. The ventral lobe is flattened, sometimes elongate, and often split into two parts at the tip, with sparsely-haired but a densely setulose longitudinal ridge on its inner side. [5]



Species

Subgenus Exallandra

Subgenus Loveridgeana

Subgenus Sphaerophoria

Related Research Articles

<i>Xylota segnis</i> Genus of flies

Xylota segnis, The Brown-toed Forest Fly, is a common species of hoverfly.

<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>Eumerus</i> Genus of flies

Eumerus is a genus of hoverflies, within the tribe Eumerini.

<i>Platycheirus</i> Genus of flies

Platycheirus is a large genus of hoverflies. They are also called sedgesitters.

<i>Sphaerophoria scripta</i> Species of fly

Sphaerophoria scripta, the long hoverfly, is a species of hoverfly belonging to the family Syrphidae.

<i>Sphaerophoria fatarum</i> Species of fly

Sphaerophoria fatarum is a European species of hoverfly.

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

Platycheirus occultus is a Palearctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Pipizella</i> Genus of flies

Pipizella is a genus of Hoverflies, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera.

<i>Melangyna lasiophthalma</i> Species of fly

Melangyna lasiophthalma is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Pipiza austriaca</i> Species of fly

Pipiza austriaca is a species of hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera.

<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.

Platycheirus europaeus is a Palearctic species of hoverfly. It is found in many parts of Europe and eastern Asiatic Russia The habitat is brook floodplains and wet flushes in montane grassland and beside streams or flushes in forest in the Carpinus and Quercus zone up into the Fagus and Picea/ Pinus zone. Flies among grasses from May to August. Flowers visited include Graminae and Cyperaceae, Ranunculus, Taraxacum.

Platycheirus ramsaerensis is a Palearctic species of hoverfly. It is found along the parts of northern Europe that face the Atlantic. It is a member of the Platycheirus clypeatus group

<i>Paragus haemorrhous</i> Species of fly

Paragus haemorrhous, the Black-backed Grass Skimmer is a common widespread species of hoverfly found in many parts of Europe, Africa and the Nearctic. 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 are predators on aphids.

Sphaerophoria bankowskae is a European species of hoverfly.

<i>Xylota florum</i> Genus of flies

Xylota florum is a Palearctic species of hoverfly.

Sphaerophoria batava is a Palearctic hoverfly. Identification is problematic and this species is little known.

Sphaerophoria loewii is a Palearctic hoverfly. Identification is problematic and this species is little known.

<i>Mallota cimbiciformis</i> Species of fly

Mallota cimbiciformis is a Palearctic hoverfly.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Smith, Kenneth G.V.; Vockeroth, J.R. (1980). Crosskey, R.W. (ed.). Catalogue of the Diptera of the Afrotropical Region (Print). London: British museum (Natural History). pp. 1–1436. ISBN   0565-00821-8.
  2. ↑ Stubbs, Alan E. & Falk, Steven J. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. British Entomological & Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp.
  3. ↑ "Sphaerophoria map". GBIF. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  4. ↑ Rotheray, G.E. (1993). "Colour Guide to Hoverfly Larvae (Diptera, Syrphidae) in Britain and Europe" (PDF). Diperists Digest. 9: 155.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ Speiser, P. (1910). Cyclorapha. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der schwedischen zoologischen Expedition nach dem Kilimandjaro, dem Meru und den umgebenden Massaisteppen, Deutsch-Ostafrikas 1905-1906. Vol. 2. P. Palmquists Aktiebolag. pp. 113–198.
  7. ↑ Joseph, A. N. T. (1970). "Two new and two known species of Sphaerophoria St. Fargeau and Serville, 1828 (Dipt., Syrphidae)". Eos. 45: 165–172.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Knutson, Lloyd V. (1972). "Taxonomic revision of aphid-killing flies on the genus Sphaerophoria in the Western Hemisphere (Syrphidae)". Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America. 9: 1–50.
  9. 1 2 3 Stubbs, A.E.; Falk, S.J. (2002). British hoverflies, an illustrated identification guide (Second ed.). Reading: British Entomological and Natural History Society. pp. 1–469. ISBN   978-1899935055.
  10. 1 2 Goeldlin de Tiefenau, P. (1989). "Sur plusieurs especes de Sphaerophoria (Dipt., Syrphidae) nouvelles ou meconnues des regions palearctique et nearctique". Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft. 62: 41–66.
  11. ↑ Plant, Colin. W. (1990). "Sphaerophoria bankowskae Goeldlin, 1989 (Syrphidae) recorded in mainland Britain". Dipterists Digest. First Series. 3. Dipterists Forum: 32–33. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. ↑ Goeldlin de Tiefenau, P. (1974). "Contribution a l'etude systematique et ecologique des Syrphidae (Dipt.) de la Suisse occidentale". Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft . 47 (3–4): 151–252.
  13. ↑ Speight, Martin C.D. (1989). "Sphaerophoria fatarum in the British Isles (Syrphidae)" (PDF). Dipterists Digest. First Series. 2. Dipterists Forum: 34. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  14. ↑ Claussen, C. (1984). "Sphaerophoria potentillae n. sp. - eine neue Syrphiden-Art aus Nordwestdeutschland (Diptera: Syrphidae)". Entomologische Zeitschrift. 94 (17): 245–250. ISSN   0013-8843.
  15. ↑ Stubbs, Alan E. (1989). "An additional British Sphaerophoria discovered in Devon" (PDF). Dipterists Digest. First Series. 2. Dipterists Forum: 34–35. Retrieved 3 March 2023.


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