Scaeva pyrastri
{{Short description|Species of fly}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Hoverfly January 2008-8.jpg
| image_caption = Male
| image2 = Hoverfly December 2007-6.jpg
| image2_caption = Female
| taxon = Scaeva pyrastri
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| synonyms =
- Musca mellina Harris, 1780{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=M. |title=An exposition of English insects |volume= Decads III, IV|date=1780 |publisher=Robson Co. |location=London |pages= 73-99, 100-138, pls. 21-30, 31-40 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/226006#page/5/mode/1up |access-date=16 July 2021}}
- Musca pyrastri Linnaeus, 1758
- Scaeva affinis Say, 1823
- Scaeva mellina (Harris, 1780)
- Scaeva unicolor Curtis, 1834
- Scaeva unicolor Curtis, 1831
| synonyms_ref ={{cite web |title= Scaeva pyrastri (Linnaeus, 1758) |url=https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id96962/ |website=BioLib |accessdate=10 July 2019}}{{cite web |title=Scaeva pyrastri (Linnaeus, 1758) |url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=140241#null |website=ITIS Report |accessdate=10 July 2019}} }}
Scaeva pyrastri, common name the pied hoverfly, is a species of hoverfly.{{cite book|author1=Stubbs, Alan E. |author2=Falk, Steven J. |name-list-style=amp |year=1983 |title=British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide|pages=253, xvpp |publisher=British Entomological & Natural History Society}}
Distribution
These hoverflies are present in most of Europe, the Near East, the East Palearctic realm, the Nearctic realm, North Africa, and the Indomalayan realm.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062550/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=65977 Fauna europaea] In the UK S. pyrastri is a migrant which arrives in some years in high numbers and in others is almost absent.{{cite book |last1=Ball |first1=Stuart |last2=Morris |first2=Roger |title=Britain's Hoverflies. An introduction to the hoverflies of Britain |date=2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Woodstock, Oxfordshire |isbn=978-0-691-15659-0 |pages=114–5}}
Description
Scaeva pyrastri can reach a length of {{convert|11|-|15|mm}}. This large distinctive fly has three pairs of white comma markings (lunules) on the abdomen, these are yellow on Scaeva selenitica.
File: Syrphidae - Scaeva cf. pyrastri (larva).JPG
The face is yellow, with reddish brown antennae. The eyes are covered with hair. Scutellum is brown yellow. The legs are red with a black base of the femur. The male's eyes do touch in the centre of the frons, while in the females they are separated.
The larvae are light green or sometimes pink, with a white dorsal longitudinal stripe.[http://bugguide.net/node/view/7262 Bugguide]
Habitat and behavior
This species can be found in gardens, meadows and wasteland.[http://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/pied-hoverfly Nature Spot] Adults are common visitors to flowers of Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), but also of rape, honeysuckle and daisies. They fly from April to September, with the peak in July and August.[http://www.natur-in-nrw.de/HTML/Tiere/Insekten/Schwebfliegen/TSW-405.html Nature in NRW] The larvae feed on different aphid species.[http://aramel.free.fr/INSECTES15terterter'-1.shtml Aramel.free] During the larval stages they may consume over 500 aphids.
Bibliography
- Gerald Bothe: Schwebfliegen. Deutscher Jugendbund für Naturbeobachtung, Hamburg 1996.
- Joachim and Hiroko Haupt: Fliegen und Mücken: Beobachtung, Lebensweise. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, {{ISBN|3-89440-278-4}}.
- Kurt Kormann: Schwebfliegen und Blasenkopffliegen Mitteleuropas. Fauna Verlag, Nottuln 2003, {{ISBN|3-935980-29-9}}.
- R. Bugg et al. 2008. - Flower Flies (Syrphidae) and other biological control agents for aphids in vegetable crops - UC ANR Publication 8285.
- Thompson F.C., Pape T., Evenhuis N.L. (2013) Systema Dipterorum
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Scaeva pyrastri|Scaeva pyrastri}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1424995}}