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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Aschiza" » Hover Flies (Syrphidae) » Syrphinae » Syrphini » Syrphus

Genus Syrphus

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Syrphus opinator? - Syrphus opinator - male

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 Syrphus

Explanation of Names

Syrphus Fabricius 1775

Greek syrphos (συρφος), a small winged insect, "gnat"

Numbers

14 spp. in our area(1), 5 of them holarctic

Identification

Key to species in (2)

The only genus in the Syrphini that has long hairs on the lower lobe of the calypter.

Most Syrphus (not all; also some species in other genera) have dull mesonotum. Many Syrphinae have a shiny mesonotum, sometimes with two whitish stripes in front.

A character of Eupeodes not found in Syrphus is the margined abdomen (thumbnails below). Another character (be careful with this one) is that Eupeodes has paired spots on the tergites that may merge into bands. ‒Paul Beuck

abdomen of Eupeodes (note black margin) and Syrphus

"Syrphus torvus has hairy eyes (more in the male than in the female); S. opinator is the common species in central California. Syrphus torvus is more northern and early spring only. Syrphus opinator has the abdominal fasciae restricted to the sides and isolated from the margins. There are other characters such as the distribution of microscopic hairs on the wing that separate these species." ‒Chris Thompson

Larvae with pattern of white, yellow/red or brown colors with 4 or 5 pairs of chevrons.

Range

New World, Eurasia, Africa(3)

Food

Larvae feed on aphids

Life Cycle

Larva • Puparium • Puparium ready to eclose • Adult and pupal case

Print References

(2)

Internet References

Taxon page(1)

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.

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

Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 5 January, 2005 - 1:15pm
Additional contributions by Bbarnd, Chuck Entz, ceiseman, v belov, Harsi S. Parker, KenW
Last updated 12 October, 2023 - 11:28am

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