Explanation of Names
Author of genus is
Rondani, 1848. From Latin (?)
mero part, fragment, incomplete, plus
macro/us, large (?). (Based on Internet searches.)
Identification
Syrphidae of Oklahoma (2), describes genus as follows in their key:
Mesonotum and abdomen mostly dark, with yellow markings of short, squamose pile; wings darkened anteriorly, distinctly so on apical half of anterior border; third vein deeply looped into apical cell.
Paraphrasing
Martin Hauser:
If you check the wing venation you will see that Meromacrus has a deep dip in the vein R4+5, while Milesia has just a slight dip there. Compare Meromacrus acutas on the left, with Milesia virginiensis on the right:
Season
May-September (M. acuta, North Carolina).
Print References
Arnett, p. 887, describes M. acuta
(1).
Syrphidae of Oklahoma (
direct link)
(2)
Brimley, p. 352, lists M. acutus for North Carolina
(3).
Castner, p. 147, fig. 545--has a photograph of what is likely M. acuta
(4).
Internet References
Animal Diversity Web--shows classification
Contributed by
Cotinis on 31 January, 2006 - 9:49pm
Last updated 30 May, 2008 - 12:03am
