The Melanostomini are a tribe 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 ...

. The tribe was first described as the subfamily Melanostominae by Williston in 1885. The tribe has at times been considered to be

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with

Bacchini The Bacchini are a tribe of hoverflies. The tribe Bacchini contains a worldwide distribution of over 430 species. They are mostly small elongate flies with black heads and scutellum. Larvae are predatory, mainly upon aphids, like others in the s ...

Description

Williston first described the group to include the genera ''

Pyrophaena ''Pyrophaena '' is a subgenus of the hoverfly genus '' Platycheirus'' distinctive enough to sometimes treated as a separate genus in its own right. Indeed a recent study of the phylogeny of the subfamily Syrphinae found it to be closer to other ...

'', '' Platycheirus'' (as ''Platychirus''), and '' Melanostoma'' as follows: The modern concept of the group has changed considerably from this initial description. A recent

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study found that Bacchini ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' should be divided into two groups: ''Melastoma'' and related genera (i.e., Melanostomini), and '' Baccha'' and related genera (i.e., Bacchini).

References

Syrphinae Brachycera tribes {{Syrphidae-stub