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Photo#14235
Syrphid sp - Eristalis arbustorum - female

Syrphid sp - Eristalis arbustorum - Female
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, USA
July 11, 2004
Looks like it may be Eristalis sp., comments.

Moved

Moved
Moved from Eristalis.

Eristalis
These females with white-banded abdomens are difficult; could be E. dimidiata or E. arbustorum or something else. I don't know whether they can be distinguished by a photo alone.

 
characteristics
Would you happen to know what characteristics can be used in separating the species? When composing a shot it always helps to have as much information as possible in mind before pushing the button.

 
at least 3 views
...is a good idea for syrphids, and probably flies in general: head-on shots of the face, plus lateral views showing the color of all the leg segments (usually tough to get in one shot) and dorsal views showing back, abdomen, and wing venation. The more shots you take, the better, as all parts of the fly can be used in identification, and a combination of 2 or more characters is often necessary in keying to species.
The Ontario Syrphid page here can be used to separate E. arbustorum and dimidiata males, but the females aren't specifically covered - and I imagine the Ontario Guide would have limited usefulness much beyond Ontario because there's about a dozen other Eristalis species elsewhere in North America.

 
views
Thanks for the info. Eventually all the bits and pieces for ID will show up. After a good lateral, a try for the wing and head detail is made, never really considered leg color. Of course, these are not called flies for nothing. Even the plain old walks can give you a run for your money.

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