Syrphus torvus | |
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male | |
macro image | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Syrphidae |
Subfamily: | Syrphinae |
Tribe: | Syrphini |
Genus: | Syrphus |
Species: | S. torvus |
Binomial name | |
Syrphus torvus Osten Sacken, 1875 | |
Syrphus torvus, the Hairy-eyed Flower Fly, is a common species of hoverfly found in the Holarctic. The adults feed on pollen and nectar, but the larvae feed on aphids.
External images. For terminology see Speight key to genera and glossary.
Eyes have numerous hairs, in male, long and dense, in female shorter. Femora 3 is black on basal 3/4. The male genitalia and the larva are illustrated by Dusek and Laska (1964). [1]
See references for determination. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Palearctic: Greenland and Fennoscandia southward to Iberia and the Mediterranean basin through Europe into Turkey and European Russia. Also from Urals eastward to Siberia and the Russian Far East to the Pacific coast (Kuril Isles) and Japan. Indomalaya Formosa, Northern India, Nepal, and Thailand.
Nearctic: from Alaska southward to New Mexico. [6] [7] [8] Migratory. Large numbers of hoverflies of this species and of Metasyrphus sp. have been observed on Denali in the Rocky Mountains at altitudes of 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) at the head of the Kahiltna Glacier. [9]
Habitat: Abies, Picea and Pinus forest and Betula, Fagus, Quercus forest and dwarf-shrub tundra. It is synanthropic in suburban gardens with mature trees and in urban parks. [10] Flowers visited include umbellifers, Allium ursinum, Aster, Bellis perennis, Brassica rapa, Buxus, Caltha, Cirsium arvense, Crataegus, Euphorbia, Frangula alnus, Glaux maritima, Hedera, Hieracium, Oxalis, Prunus spinosa, Ranunculus, Rosa, Rubus, Salix, Senecio jacobaea, Sorbus, Taraxacum, Tussilago. [11] It flies March to October. The larva feeds on aphids on trees, bushes and shrubs. Adults feed on pollen and nectar and are particularly attracted to yellow and white flowers. The insect overwinters as larvae. [12]
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.
Leucozona glaucia, the Pale-saddled Leucozona is a Palearctic hoverfly. Larvae feed on ground layer aphids. Adults are usually seen visiting flowers.
Eupeodes luniger is a common species of hoverfly.
Eupeodes latifasciatus is a species of hoverfly. Adults feed on nectar; larvae feed on aphids and scale insects.
Dasysyrphus albostriatus is a Palearctic species of hoverfly.
Dasysyrphus venustus is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.
Epistrophe eligans is a European species of hoverfly.
Leucozona lucorum is a Palearctic and Nearctic species of hoverfly.
Parasyrphus annulatus is a Palearctic species of hoverfly.
Xanthandrus comtus is a species of hoverfly. It is found in the Palearctic.
Fagisyrphus cinctus is a European species of hoverfly. This species has a muddled taxonomic history. Older authors treated it as a member of the genus Melangyna, and later sources in Meligramma, but the most recent sources recognize it as the sole species in its own monotypic genus, Fagisyrphus.
Syrphus vitripennis is a very common European and North American species of hoverfly. Its larvae feed on aphids
Epistrophe grossulariae is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.
Parasyrphus lineolus is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.
Parasyrphus vittiger is a species of hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera.
Heringia heringi is a European species of hoverfly.
Melangyna compositarum is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.
Megasyrphus erraticus is a Holarctic species of hoverfly associated with mature conifer woodlands and plantations.
Didea alneti is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.
Epistrophe nitidicollis is a European and North American species of hoverfly.