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Hoverfly

Syritta pipiens

Published on Project Noah
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33.135, -117.034

Field Notes

Description:

Black hoverfly with a thin light band, broken band and a thick broken band at the top of the abdomen. The thick band has orange coloring on the outside portions.
Only shot I was able to get before it took off. Bad pic but I haven't seen this pattern before.
"Distinctive feature in both sexes is the apical third of the hind femur having a row of spines along the ventral edge (see close-up photo from Insects of Cedar Creek); another good field mark is the pair of pale wedge-shaped spots on anterior margin of thorax behind the head.
Male: femur 3 strongly thickened, but hardly bent, basally without protuberance; tergite 2-3 with small, pale spots. Female: Ocellar triangle black or bluish, metallic shining; thoracic dorsum dusted along side margin; tergite 4: side and hind margins not dusted."

Habitat:

Above damp soil at freshly cut Strelitzia nicolai in backyard. "all of United States and southern Canada (absent from the arctic). Also occurs in Mexico, Eurasia, and the Orient"

Notes:

Submitted to BugGuide

Species ID Suggestions

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