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Family Syrphidae - Hover Flies

Syrphid Fly for ID - Eristalis dimidiata Syrphid Fly - Toxomerus geminatus - male Sryphid Fly? - Allograpta obliqua unknown caterpillar - Dioprosopa clavata Flower Fly - Syritta pipiens - female Tiny striped abdomen wasp - Ocyptamus fuscipennis Possible Bachini Fly - Melanostoma mellinum Wasp Mimic? - Spilomyia liturata
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Aschiza")
Family Syrphidae (Hover Flies)
Other Common Names
Flower Flies, Syrphid Flies
Explanation of Names
Syrphidae Latreille 1802
Numbers
813 spp. in ~100 genera in our area(1)(2), >6,000 spp. in ~210 genera worldwide(3)(4)
Overview of our fauna* –taxa not yet in the guide¹; classification follows(1)(5); for genera represented in our area by a single subgenus, subgenera not indicated.
Family Syrphidae
SUBFAMILY ERISTALINAE
Tribe Eristalini
Tribe Milesiini
Tribe Rhingiini
Subtribe Rhingiina Rhingia
SUBFAMILY SYRPHINAE
Size
1‒35 mm, typically 10‒20 mm
Identification
Can be recognized by the spurious wing vein
Key to nearctic genera in (1) (per Bill Dean, Fig.3 depicts Syrphus opinator, not Lapposyrphus aberrantis)
Guides to common species and keys for Eristalini in (6)
Guide to the northeastern fauna in (7) • Oklahoma fauna in (8)
Key to Canadian Syrphinae in (9)
Larvae: see (10)(11); larvae of many holarctic genera shown/keyed in (12)
Range
worldwide
Habitat
Many adults frequent flowers; some larvae live in ant nests, and a few are associated with wasps.
Food
Larvae may feed on decaying vegetation, aquatic detritus, wet wood, bulbs of forbs of living plants, but most are predators; Many species of Allograpta, Baccha, Mesograpta, Melanostoma, Paragus, Pipiza, Scaeva, Syrphus, Metasyrphus, and Sphaerophoria are important aphid predators; larvae of Baccha, Pipiza, Scaeva, Syrphus, and Metasyrphus feed on coccids. (Weems 1954). Adults often feed on nectar and/or pollen
Remarks
Role as aphid control agents: see (13) • Role as pollinators: see (14)
Larvae that live in water with much decaying organic matter have a long anal breathing tube, and are called "rat-tailed maggots"
See Also
ConopidaeBombyliidaeStratiomyidae • Oestridae, Tachnidae, & some other families also include lookalikes
Print References
Phylogeny:(15)(16)
mimicry:(17)(18)
(19)
Works Cited
1.Key to the genera of nearctic Syrphidae
Miranda G.F.G, Young A.D., Locke M.M., Marshall S.A., Skevington J.H., Thompson F.C. 2013. Can. J. Arthropod Identification 23: 1‒351.
2.Skevington J.H. (2014) Nearctic Syrphidae checklist
3.Flower Flies (Syrphidae) - Syrphidae.lifedesks.org
4.Order Diptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification...
Pape T., Blagoderov V., Mostovski M.B. 2011. Zootaxa 3148: 222–229.
5.Generic revision and species classification of the Microdontinae (Diptera, Syrphidae)
Reemer M., Ståhls G. 2013. ZooKeys 288: 1–213.
6.Field/Photo ID for Flies: Fly Guide
7.Syrphidae of Ontario
8.The world of Syrphidae
9.The flower flies of the subfamily Syrphinae of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland, Diptera: Syrphidae
Vockeroth J.R. 1992. The insects and arachnids of Canada, Pt. 18. Ottawa: Agriculture Canada. 456 pp.
10.Unidentified immature stages
11.A classification of the larvae and puparia of the Syrphidae of Illinois exclusive of aquatic forms
Heiss E.M. 1938. Univ. Ill. Bull. 36: 1‒142.
12.Colour guide to hoverfly larvae (Diptera, Syrphidae) in Britain and Europe
Rotheray G.E. 1993. Dipterists Digest No. 9. 155 pp.
13.Flower Flies (Syrphidae) and other biological control agents for aphids in vegetable crops
R. Bugg et al. 2008. UC ANR Publication 8285.
14.Pollinating flies (Diptera): A major contribution to plant diversity and agricultural production
Ssymank A., Kearns C.A., Pape T., Thompson F.C. 2011. Biodiversity 9: 86‒89.
15.Phylogeny of the Syrphoidea (Diptera) inferred from mtDNA sequences and morphology...
Skevington J.H., Yeates D.K. 2000. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 16: 212–224.
16.Phylogeny of Syrphidae (Diptera) inferred from combined analysis of molecular and morphological characters
Ståhls G., Hippa H., Rotheray G., Muona J., Gilbert F. 2003. Systematic Entomology 28: 433–450.
17.A comparative analysis of the evolution of imperfect mimicry
Penney H.D., Hassall C., Skevington J.H., Abbott K.R., Sherratt T.N. 2012. Nature 483: 461–464.
18.The evolution of imperfect mimicry in hoverflies
Gilbert F. 2005. Insect Evolutionary Ecology: Proc. Royal Ent. Society's 22nd Symposium: 231–288.
19.Syrphidae of Oklahoma (Diptera)
Shorter D.A., Drew W.A. 1976. Proc. Okla. Acad. Sci. 56: 75‒94.