''Dasysyrphus albostriatus'' is a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

hoverfly Hoverflies, also called flower flies or syrphids, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the l ...

Description

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Morphology of Diptera Dipteran morphology differs in some significant ways from the broader insect morphology, morphology of insects. The Diptera is a very large and diverse Order (biology), order of mostly small to medium-sized insects. They have prominent compound ey ...

Wing length 6·25–9·5 mm. Thorax dorsum with two median stripes of white dust. The thorax is otherwise shining black. Tergites with linear yellow spots which sometimes connect on tergites 3 and 4. The larva is figured by Dusek and Laska (1962).

Distribution

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

. Fennoscandia South to Iberia and north Africa. Ireland eastwards through Central and Southern Europe (Italy, Yugoslavia) to Greece, Turkey and European parts of Russia (South to Crimea and the Caucasus). East into Central Asia and Japan. ProfitisIliasLimestone

Biology

Habitat coniferous and deciduous woodland and conifer plantation, up to the alpine zone, tracksides, clearings, parks, gardens. Flowers visited include yellow composites, white umbellifers, ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', ''Calluna'', ''Crataegus'', ''Euphorbia'', ''Lonicera xylosteum'', ''Papaver'', ''Ranunculus'', ''Rubus'', ''Salix'', ''Sorbus'', ''Stellaria'', ''Succisa pratensis'', and ''Viburnum opulus''.de Buck, N. (1990) Bloembezoek en bestuivingsecologie van Zweefvliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) in het bijzonder voor België. ''Doc.Trav.'' IRSNB, no.60, 1–167. The flight period is from the end of April (early April in southern Europe) to September. The larva is predominantly aphid-feeding, but also predatory on a wide range of soft-bodied insects.

References

Syrphini Diptera of Africa Diptera of Asia Diptera of Europe Insects described in 1817 Taxa named by Carl Fredrik Fallén {{Syrphidae-stub