''Sphaerophoria beattiei'' is a species of

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 ...

belonging to the genus ''

Sphaerophoria ''Sphaerophoria '' is a genus of hoverflies. Species slender 5.6-12mm long with extremely large hemispherical male terminalia, after which the common name ''globetail'' was created (see gallery). There are bright yellow markings on head and tho ...

''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the island of

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

in the South Atlantic. It was originally considered the only member of the genus ''Loveridgeana'' but was found to be nested within ''Sphaerophoria'' in a DNA based phylogenetic analysis, along with three other species found in South Africa. Almost nothing is known of its biology other than it pollinated now extinct flora on Saint Helena including the Saint Helena olive.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16984840 Diptera of Africa Insects of Saint Helena Island