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Family Syrphidae - Hover Flies
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
Size 1-35 mm, typically 10-20 mm Identification Guides to common species and keys for all Eristalini at (6)
Can be recognized by the spurious wing vein(7):
Many mimic wasps/bees and may even buzz like bees, but do not bite or sting.
Key to nearctic genera in (1) (Note: per Bill Dean, Figure 3 on this page, which purports to depict Lapposyrphus aberrantis, actually depicts Syrphus opinator)
Guide to the northeastern fauna in (8)
Key to Canadian Syrphinae in (9)
Larvae: see (10) and the invitation to submit voucher specimens; larvae of many holarctic genera shown & keyed in (11)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 Life Cycle Males search for rain-filled tree holes and guard them diligently until a female joins him and lays eggs. When the eggs hatch, they inherit the tree hole. (12)
Larvae (aka rat-tailed maggots) survive in this water with an air tube that acts like a telescoping snorkel; it can stretch several inches or shrink to less than an inch. (12)Remarks Role as aphid biocontrol agents, with many examples & good photos, described in (13)
Larvae that live in water with much decaying organic matter have a long anal breathing tube, and are called "rat-tailed maggots".
See Also Oestridae, Tachnidae, & some other families also include lookalikes Print References
Heiss E.M. (1938) A classification of the larvae and puparia of the Syrphidae of Illinois exclusive of aquatic forms. Univ. Ill. Bull. 36: 1-142. ( Full text) 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 14. | 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. | 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. | |
| 17. | The evolution of imperfect mimicry in hoverflies
Gilbert F. 2005. Insect Evolutionary Ecology: Proc. Royal Ent. Society's 22nd Symposium: 231–288. | |
| 18. | Syrphidae of Oklahoma (Diptera)
Shorter D.A., Drew W.A. 1976. Proc. Okla. Acad. Sci. 56: 75-94. | |
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, Hartmut Wisch, Bbarnd, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, KenW, Marci Hess, kbyers, Kevin Moran, zdankoLast updated 24 September, 2023 - 11:07am |
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