Rhingia campestris

{{Short description|Species of fly}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Schnauz.jpg

| image_caption = male

| image2 = Rhingia campestris 02.JPG

| image2_caption = female

| taxon = Rhingia campestris

| authority = Meigen, 1822

| synonyms = *Musca macrocephala Harris, 1780

| synonyms_ref =  {{cite book|author1=Stubbs, Alan E. |author2=Falk, Steven J. |name-list-style=amp |year=1983 |title=British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide |publisher=British Entomological & Natural History Society|page=253, xvpp}}

}}

Rhingia campestris is a species of hoverfly, {{convert|7|-|11|mm|1}} long, with a wingspan of {{convert|12|-|18|mm|1|abbr=on}}. It is common across the Palearctic from March until November. It has a broad orange abdomen with a black line along the sides (the black line is absent along the sides of Rhingia rostrata), and has the distinctive long snout of all Rhingia species. Rhingia campestris is the main pollinator for many plant species{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/plb.12328| title = Competition for pollinators and intra-communal spectral dissimilarity of flowers| journal = Plant Biology| pages = 56–62| year = 2015| last1 = Van Der Kooi | first1 = C. J.| last2 = Pen | first2 = I.| last3 = Staal | first3 = M.| last4 = Stavenga | first4 = D. G.| last5 = Elzenga | first5 = J. T. M.| url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273158762 | pmid = 25754608 | volume = 18| issue = 1}} and due to its long snout it can forage on tubulous flowers. Larvae are associated with cow dung. Adults males feed on nectar, while adult females feed on protein rich pollen, reflecting the cost of developing eggs.

Technical description

Description

[http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=30758 External images]

For terms see Morphology of Diptera
Wing length 5·5–7 mm Snout straight, longer than the diameter of the eye in side view. Tergites with black hind edge and side margins and often with a black mark in the middle of the tergite. Pre-genital sternite black-haired. Tibiae red.

See references for determinationVan Veen, M. (2004) Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: identification keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.[http://home.hccnet.nl/mp.van.veen/syrphidae/boekhoverflies.html addendum]Van der Goot,V.S. (1981) De zweefvliegen van Noordwest - Europa en Europees Rusland, in het bijzonder van de Benelux. KNNV, Uitgave no.32: 275pp. Amsterdam.Bei-Bienko, G.Y. & Steyskal, G.C. (1988) Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR, Volume V: Diptera and Siphonaptera, Part I. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi. {{ISBN|81-205-0080-6}}.Coe, R.L. (1953) Diptera: Syrphidae. Handbks.ident.Br.insects, 10(1): 1-98. R.ent.Soc.London. [http://www.royensoc.co.uk/sites/default/files/Vol10_Part01.pdf pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004053056/https://www.royensoc.co.uk/sites/default/files/Vol10_Part01.pdf |date=2018-10-04 }}

Distribution

Palearctic Fennoscandia South to the Pyrenees, Spain and the Mediterranean basin. Ireland East through Europe into European Russia and the Caucasus then to Siberia, Mongolia and the Russian Far East to the Pacific coast.

Fauna EuropaeaPeck, L.V. (1988) Syrphidae. In: Soos, A. & Papp, L. (eds.) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera, 8: 11-230. Akad.Kiado, Budapest.

File:MOs810 WG 38 2016 (Blota) (Bolemin, cows).jpg

Biology

Habitat: Wood and wetland occurring most frequently on land where cows are grazed. Can feed at pink flowers which have concealed nectar sources, making them unusable by other flies with less extended mouthparts.{{cite journal | last = Speight | first = M.C.D. | year = 2011 | title = Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera)| journal = Syrph the Net, the Database of European Syrphidae | volume = 65 | pages = 285pp | url= http://www.diptera.info/downloads/StN_Species_Accounts_Glasgow_2011.pdf }}

References

{{Reflist}}

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Category:Rhingiini

Category:Diptera of Europe

Category:Insects described in 1822

{{Eristalinae-stub}}