''Chalcosyrphus'' is a genus of

hoverflies Hoverflies, also called flower flies or syrphids, make up the insect family (biology), family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen Hover (behaviour), hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed main ...

in the subfamily

Eristalinae Eristalinae (or Milesiinae) are one of the four subfamilies of the fly family (biology), family Hoverfly, Syrphidae, or hoverflies. A well-known species included in this subfamily is the Eristalis tenax, common drone fly, ''Eristalis tenax''. ...

. Many species exhibit some degree of mimicry of various

sawflies Sawflies are wasp-like insects that are in the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera, alongside ants, bees, and wasps. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which the females use to cut into the plant ...

and other

hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...

ns and are often brightly coloured or metallic in hue. The adults are similar in structure and behavior to the related genus '' Xylota'' but differ in larval morphology. They can be found throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and seem to prefer damper, boggy habitats. The larvae are saproxylic feeders in rotten wood in these habitats.

Species

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*Photographic examples and genus info: http://bugguide.net/node/view/7936/bgimage *Lifedesks page for "Chalcosyrphus" taxonomy and references: https://web.archive.org/web/20120502110623/http://syrphidae.lifedesks.org/pages/25038 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1762951 Hoverfly genera Milesiini Taxa named by Charles Howard Curran