Hoverfly

You are welcome, Sachin

Well it's complicated! There are about 60 valid species of Mesembrius and they are never synonyms of Helophilus. However there are 100 records of Helophilus, many of which are synonyms, including of Mesembrius (and other genera), but there are also about 36 valid Helophilus species. So it looks like Helophilus is an older genus that has been cleaned up. And it would depend on the actual species (obviously) if this spotting were Mesembrius or Helophilus. (Source: Catalogue of Life: 18th April 2013 http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/search/all/key/Helophilus/match/1/ )

I think they are synonymous only on some species level. In my spotting, Mesembrius insignis = Helophilus insignis. But Sachin's spotting could possibly be a male Mesembrius bengalensis (syn: Eumerosyrphus indianus), with distribution in India to New Guinea (PNG), Australia (NT, Qld.). Pls check also if this could be M. bengalensis: http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_hoverflies/DroneFly.htm http://www.globalspecies.org/ntaxa/491165 Regards!!

Hi Agnes. I can see from your own spotting http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/16507319 that Mesembrius and Helophilus are synonyms :-) Let's try and find out which one is preferred.

It is a Helophilus species: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkadavoor/5450453830/ http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=404520.

nice one, Sachin !