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Photo#8902
Spilomyia - Spilomyia sayi - female

Spilomyia - Spilomyia sayi - Female
Hawk Cliff, Ontario, Canada
September 18, 2004
A common syrphid in central and southern Ontario (S. sayi is a synonym). ID by Dr. Jeff Skevington, Agriculture Canada.

sayi
According to the Syrphidae of Ontario Spilomyia page S. sayi is the correct name. This can also be seen at the ITIS site. That site says quadrifasciata is a junior synonym, yet it is older - I'm not sure why, perhaps there's homonymy involved somewhere. Can guide pages be renamed, or does a new page have to be made?

 
S. sayi
Thank Joel. I noticed at the time that the Syrphidae of Ontario Excel list said S. sayi; I only called it quadrifasciata because that's what Jeff Skevington called it. Patrick wrote the Guide page for this one, so only he or Troy can make changes; I think Troy plans to eventually allow all editors to make changes to pages but it's not in place yet.
I corresponded with Jeff twice today; the Ontario Spilomyia page went online just this afternoon (and the Blera page this morning); he'll be adding more in the coming days/weeks, hoping to get most of the available info uploaded before the syrphid season starts in April.

 
OK
Sounds good. I'm eager to see what the guide looks like when it's all put together - I think it'll be a great resource.