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''Scaeva pyrastri'', common name the pied hoverfly, is a 
The face is yellow, with reddish brown antennae. The eyes are covered with hair. Scutellum is brown yellow. The legs are red with a black base of the femur. The male's eyes do touch in the centre of the frons, while in the females they are separated.
The larvae are light green or sometimes pink, with a white dorsal longitudinal stripe.Bugguide
/ref>
/ref> Adults are common visitors to flowers of Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), but also of rape, honeysuckle and daisies. They fly from April to September, with the peak in July and August.
/ref> The
/ref> During the larval stages they may consume over 500 aphids.
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 ...
.
Distribution
These hoverflies are present in most ofEurope
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
, the Near East, the East Palearctic realm
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 ...
, the Nearctic realm, North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
, and the Indomalayan realm. In the UK ''S. pyrastri'' is a migrant which arrives in some years in high numbers and in others is almost absent.
Description
''Scaeva pyrastri'' can reach a length of . This large distinctive fly has three pairs of white comma markings ( lunules) on the abdomen, these are yellow on '' Scaeva selenitica''.
The face is yellow, with reddish brown antennae. The eyes are covered with hair. Scutellum is brown yellow. The legs are red with a black base of the femur. The male's eyes do touch in the centre of the frons, while in the females they are separated.
The larvae are light green or sometimes pink, with a white dorsal longitudinal stripe.Bugguide/ref>
Habitat and behavior
This species can be found in gardens, meadows and wasteland.Nature Spot/ref> Adults are common visitors to flowers of Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), but also of rape, honeysuckle and daisies. They fly from April to September, with the peak in July and August.
/ref> The
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
Th ...
e feed on different aphid species.Aramel.free/ref> During the larval stages they may consume over 500 aphids.
Bibliography
* Gerald Bothe: Schwebfliegen. Deutscher Jugendbund für Naturbeobachtung, Hamburg 1996. * Joachim and Hiroko Haupt: Fliegen und Mücken: Beobachtung, Lebensweise. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, . * Kurt Kormann: Schwebfliegen und Blasenkopffliegen Mitteleuropas. Fauna Verlag, Nottuln 2003, . * R. Bugg et al. 2008. - Flower Flies (Syrphidae) and other biological control agents for aphids in vegetable crops - UC ANR Publication 8285. * Thompson F.C., Pape T., Evenhuis N.L. (2013) Systema DipterorumReferences
External links
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1424995 Diptera of Africa Diptera of Asia Diptera of Europe Syrphinae Syrphini Insects described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus