''Sphaerophoria '' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
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 ...
.
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 thorax and usually on the abdomen but some species have a black abdomen.
They can be found worldwide but are common in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. There are over 73 described species.
The larvae--when known--are aphidophagous.
[ ]
Diagnostics
For terminology se
Speight key to genera and glossaryThe male has a yellow frons, rarely with a pair of black spots above the antennae, while the female has a median black stripe. The face is usually yellow, often with black markings, and has a prominent tubercle that only recedes slightly to the lower facial margin. The eyes are bare. The scutum is glossy black with a wide yellow stripe that either terminates at the transverse suture or extends to the scutellum. The pleura have black coloring with bright yellow patterns. The anterior anepisternum is bare. The upper and lower katepisternal hair patches are distinct from each other, with the former usually extending ventrally in a triangular shape about three-quarters of the distance from the upper to lower margin of the sclerite. The meron and metapleuron are both devoid of hair, and the metasternum has some. There are small bare areas on the basal one-third of the wing membrane.
Males have an abdomen is that is slender, unmargined, and parallel-sided or slightly constricted near the middle. The fifth segment on the right side has a bluntly rounded posterior extension. Females have an abdomen that is parallel or slightly widened in the middle.
Male genitalia
The epandrium is typically very large, almost as wide as segment 5 and usually slightly longer than wide, with the posterior being slightly wider. The cerci are usually enclosed in a sclerotized layer of the epandrium. The surstylus is usually detailed and divided into three lobes. The dorsal lobe is slightly swollen at the top, round, and has a thick mass of long, coarse yellow hairs. The ventral lobe is flattened, sometimes elongate, and often split into two parts at the tip, with sparsely-haired but a densely setulose longitudinal ridge on its inner side.
Species
Subgenus '' Exallandra''
* ''
Sphaerophoria cinctifacies''
(Speiser, 1910)
* ''
Sphaerophoria loewii''
Zetterstedt, 1843
Subgenus ''Loveridgeana''
*''
Sphaerophoria beattiei''
(Doesburg and Doesburg, 1977) 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 ...
, South Atlantic
*''
Sphaerophoria quadrituberculata''
Bezzi, 1915
*''
Sphaerophoria retrocurva''
Hull, 1944
Subgenus ''Sphaerophoria''
*''
Sphaerophoria abbreviata''
Zetterstedt, 1849
*''
Sphaerophoria assamensis''
Joseph, 1970
*''
Sphaerophoria asymmetrica''
Knutson, 1973
*''
Sphaerophoria bankowskae''
Goeldlin, 1989
*''
Sphaerophoria batava''
Goeldlin, 1974
*''
Sphaerophoria bifurcata''
Knutson, 1972[
*'' Sphaerophoria boreoalpina'' Goeldlin, 1989
*'' Sphaerophoria brevipilosa'' Knutson, 1972][
*'' Sphaerophoria chongjini'' Bankowska, 1964
*'' Sphaerophoria cleoae'' Metcalf, 1917
*'' Sphaerophoria contigua'' Macquart, 1847
*'' Sphaerophoria cranbrookensis'' Curran, 1921
*'' Sphaerophoria estebani'' Goeldlin, 1991
*'' Sphaerophoria fatarum'' Goeldlin, 1989][
*'' Sphaerophoria macrogaster'' (Thomson, 1869)
*'' Sphaerophoria menthastri'' (]Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...
)
*'' Sphaerophoria nigra'' Frey, 1945
*'' Sphaerophoria novaeangliae'' Johnson, 1916
*'' Sphaerophoria philanthus'' ( Meigen, 1822)
*'' Sphaerophoria pictipes'' Boheman, 1863
*'' Sphaerophoria potentillae'' Claussen, 1984Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...
)
*'' Sphaerophoria shirchan'' Violovitsh, 1957
*'' Sphaerophoria sulphuripes'' (Thomson, 1869)
*'' Sphaerophoria taeniata'' ( Meigen, 1822)
*'' Sphaerophoria turkmenica'' Bankowska, 1964
*'' Sphaerophoria tuvinica'' Violovitsh, 1966
*'' Sphaerophoria virgata'' Goeldlin, 1974
*'' Sphaerophoria viridaenea'' Brunnetti, 1915
*'' Sphaerophoria weemsi'' Knutson, 1972[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2561615
Syrphini
Muscomorph flies of Europe
Diptera of North America
Diptera of Africa
Hoverfly genera
Taxa named by Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier
Taxa named by Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville