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Species Scaeva affinis

larva on ragweed - Scaeva affinis Syrphid fly larvae on fennel - Scaeva affinis Syrphid fly --genus/sp.? - Scaeva affinis - female Scaeva pyrastri - Scaeva affinis - male Syrphini - Scaeva affinis Scaeva on the East Coast? - Scaeva affinis - female Scaeva affinis maggot? - Scaeva affinis hoverfly - Scaeva affinis
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Aschiza")
Family Syrphidae (Hover Flies)
Subfamily Syrphinae
Tribe Syrphini
Genus Scaeva
Species affinis (Scaeva affinis)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Previously thought to represent a population of Scaeva pyrastri (Linnaeus 1758), which was found to be a Palearctic species (1).
Size
11.1-15.7 mm(2)
Identification
Eyes with dense hair; upper 2/3 of male eye "with extensive area of almost uniformly enlarged facets"(2); abdomen dark, with six white, curved stripes. Larvae are light green with a white dorsal longitudinal stripe.

Usually with abdominal bands, but sometimes also in dark forms:

Range
Holarctic; in NA, western (AK-CA to AB-NM)(3)
Life Cycle
1. Larvae. 2. Puparium
Remarks
may consume over 500 aphids during its larval stages(4)
Internet References
Works Cited
1.Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America
Jeffrey H. Skevington and Michelle M. Locke, Andrew D. Young, Kevin Moran, William J. Crins and Stephen A. Marshall. 2019. Princeton University Press.
2.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.
3.Thompson F.C., Pape T., Evenhuis N.L. (2013) Systema Dipterorum, Version 1.5
4.Flower Flies (Syrphidae) and other biological control agents for aphids in vegetable crops
R. Bugg et al. 2008. UC ANR Publication 8285.