Syrphid Fly - Dasysyrphus

female Dasysyrphus sp.

Eric is right in that he thinks this is not Scaeva. Another feature in the genus Scaeva is the more or less swollen forehead, giving it a bit of a bulging look. However this is sometimes a bit difficult to see with a picture from above like this! This picture shows a female in the genus Dasysyrphus. It has haired eyes, a shiny thorax and an abdomen which is oval and weakly but distinctly marginated with distinctive yellow markings.
Greetings,
Gerard Pennards

… Gerard Pennards, 9 May, 2006 - 5:06am

Thanks Gerard & Eric,

I'll move it:)

… Tony DiTerlizzi, 9 May, 2006 - 8:03am

Not so sure.

Boy, I don't know that is what this is. Please don't ask me why I disagree:-) For one thing, it appears to have 'too many stripes' to be Scaeva pyrastri. The stripes at the base of the abdomen in particular lead me to believe this is something else. Scaeva generally has three pairs of bold, white (never yellow) crescents on a very black abdomen.

… Eric R. Eaton, 27 March, 2006 - 3:45pm

Hmmmm...

Eric,

Of course you are the pro at this, so I'll defer to you. I used the abdominal markings in this photo to base my ID on. I've also uploaded a more zoomed-in image, hopefully you can see her more clearly.

Lemme know what ya think...

… Tony DiTerlizzi, 27 March, 2006 - 4:23pm