Genus Cerotainia

Cerotainia Schiner 1868

1-2 spp. in our area (see below), 38 total(1)

DNA confirms albopilosus valid GenBank #468706 Common in Canada.

DNA confirrms macrocera valid GenBank #1717379 Rare in Canada.

Eric Fisher's comment on number of species: "Cerotainia macrocera... is the original (and possibly the only) species of Cerotainia described for the U.S.A. (by Thomas Say, in 1823). A 2nd potential sp., C. albipilosa Curran, was described in 1930, and it has much more white hair [...]. However, there is still no certainty as to whether this 'white-haired morph' is a distinct species or just a color variety. (In 85 years, no one has evidently studied this question and published any results...) The possible 3rd Cerotainia in the USA is a fly, 'Cerotainia atrata Jones,' described from Nebraska in 1907. No one has ever reported on another specimen of this fly, and C. atrata is now termed to be an 'unrecognized' sp."

5 to 9 mm long.