''Platycheirus occultus'' is a
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of
hoverfly
Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, 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 ...
.
DescriptionExternal images
For terms see
Morphology of Diptera
Dipteran morphology differs in some significant ways from the broader morphology of insects. The Diptera is a very large and diverse order of mostly small to medium-sized insects. They have prominent compound eyes on a mobile head, and (at most) ...
Tarsae 1: apical half of all segments without dark brown to black blotches ventrally. Femora 1 black to dark brown for less than half its length. Surstyli pale-haired.
[Speight, M.C.D. & Goeldlin de Tiefenau, P. (1990) Keys to distinguish ''Platycheirus angustipes'', ''P.europaeus'', ''P.occultus'' and ''P.ramsarensis'' (Dipt., Syrphidae) from other ''clypeatus'' group species known in Europe. ''Dipterists Digest'', 5: 5-18.]
Distribution
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Britain, North Germany, France Switzerland, Spain and northern Italy (Apennines), Serbia, Turkey
Biology
Habitat: fen and bog, coastal marsh and dune slacks, humid, seasonally-flooded, grassland, moorland, taiga wetlands. Flies April to September.
References
Diptera of Europe
Syrphinae
Insects described in 1990
{{Syrphidae-stub