Syrphus torvus

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Syrphus torvus
Syrphus torvus male 1.jpg
male
Syrphus torvus macro 01.jpg
macro image
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: Syrphus
Species:
S. torvus
Binomial name
Syrphus torvus

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.

Contents

Description

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]

Distribution

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 Mount McKinley (Denali) in the Rocky Mountains at altitudes of 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) at the head of the Kahiltna Glacier. [9]

Biology

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]

Related Research Articles

<i>Syrphus ribesii</i> Species of fly

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.

<i>Leucozona glaucia</i> Species of fly

Leucozona glaucia, the Pale-saddled Leucozona is a Palearctic hoverfly. Larvae feed on ground layer aphids. Adults are usually seen visiting flowers.

<i>Eupeodes luniger</i> Species of fly

Eupeodes luniger is a common species of hoverfly.

<i>Eupeodes latifasciatus</i> Species of fly

Eupeodes latifasciatus is a species of hoverfly. Adults feed on nectar; larvae feed on aphids and scale insects.

<i>Dasysyrphus albostriatus</i> Species of fly

Dasysyrphus albostriatus is a Palearctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Dasysyrphus venustus</i> Species of fly

Dasysyrphus venustus is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Epistrophe eligans</i> Species of fly

Epistrophe eligans is a European species of hoverfly.

<i>Leucozona lucorum</i> Species of hoverfly

Leucozona lucorum is a Palearctic and Nearctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Meliscaeva cinctella</i> Species of fly

Meliscaeva cinctella is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Xanthandrus comtus</i> Species of fly

Xanthandrus comtus is a species of hoverfly. It is found in the Palearctic.

<i>Fagisyrphus</i> Species of fly

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.

<i>Syrphus vitripennis</i> Species of hoverfly

Syrphus vitripennis is a very common European and North American species of hoverfly. Its larvae feed on aphids

<i>Epistrophe grossulariae</i> Species of fly

Epistrophe grossulariae is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Parasyrphus lineolus</i> Species of fly

Parasyrphus lineolus is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Parasyrphus vittiger</i> Species of fly

Parasyrphus vittiger is a species of hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera.


Heringia heringi is a European species of hoverfly.

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

Melangyna compositarum is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Megasyrphus erraticus</i> Species of fly

Megasyrphus erraticus is a Holarctic species of hoverfly associated with mature conifer woodlands and plantations.

<i>Didea alneti</i> Species of fly

Didea alneti is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.

<i>Epistrophe nitidicollis</i> Species of fly

Epistrophe nitidicollis is a European and North American species of hoverfly.

References

  1. Dusek, J. & Laska, P. (1964). "A contribution to distinguishing the European species of the subgenus Syrphus Fab. (Diptera, Syrphidae) according to the male genitalia and larvae". Acta Soc. Ent. Cechoslov.61(1): 58-69.
  2. Van Veen, M. (2004). Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: identification keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.addendum.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Coe, R.L. (1953). "Diptera: Syrphidae". Handbks. Ident. Br. Insects10(1): 1-98. R. Ent. Soc. London. pdf.
  6. Fauna Europaea.
  7. Peck, L.V. (1988). "Syrphidae". In: Soos, A. & Papp, L. (eds.). Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera8: 11-230. Akad. Kiado, Budapest.
  8. 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.
  9. Edwards, J. S. (1987). "Arthropods of Alpine Aeolian Ecosystems". Annual Review of Entomology. 32: 163–179. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.32.010187.001115.
  10. Speight, M.C.D. (2011). "Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera)" (PDF). Syrph the Net, the Database of European Syrphidae. 65: 285pp.
  11. de Buck, N. (1990). "Bloembezoek en bestuivingsecologie van Zweefvliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) in het bijzonder voor België". Doc. Trav. IRSNB, no. 60, 1–167.
  12. "Hoverflies (Syrphidae)". The Garden Safari. Retrieved 2014-12-03.