Copestylum Explained

thumb|C. haagii

Copestylum is one of the largest genera of hoverflies in the Americas.^[1] It comprises more than 300 species,^[2] of which only four have been found outside the Americas, having probably been introduced by the importation of cacti in which the larvae live.^[1]

Taxonomy

Subgenera and type species

The following is a list of the subgenera within Copestylum, with just the type species of each subgenus listed afterwards.^[2]

• Subgenus Copestylum Macquart, 1846 – type Copestylum flaviventre Macquart, 1846
• Subgenus Phalacromyia Rondani, 1848 – type Copestylum submetallicum (Rondani, 1848)
• Subgenus Glaurotricha Thomson, 1869 – type Copestylum muscarium (Thomson, 1869)
• Subgenus Atemnocera Bigot, 1882a – type Copestylum scutellatum (Macquart, 1842)
• Subgenus Apophysophora Williston, 1888 – type Copestylum trituberculatum Thomson, 1976
• Subgenus Megametopon (= Ophromyia)^[3] Giglio-Tos, 1891 – type Copestylum nasicum (Williston, 1891)
• Subgenus Camerania Giglio-Tos, 1892a – type Copestylum macrocephalum (Giglio-Tos, 1892)
• Subgenus Viereckomyia Curran, 1925b – type Copestylum gibberum (Schiner, 1868)
• Subgenus Lepidopsis Curran, 1925b – type Copestylum compactum (Curran, 1925)
• Subgenus Volosyrpha Shannon, 1929 – type Copestylum rufitarse Thomson, 1976
• Subgenus Volucellosia Curran, 1930d – type Copestylum fornax Townsend, 1895
• Subgenus Tachinosyrphus Hull, 1936b – type Copestylum pseudotachina (Hull, 1936)

Species

For a complete list of Copestylum species, see List of Copestylum species.

Notes and References

1. M. A. Marcos-García . C. Pérez-Bañón . 2002 . Life cycle, adult and immature stages of a new species of Copestylum (Diptera: Syrphidae) from Mexico reared from Cactaceae . . 95 . 4 . 432–440 . 10.1603/0013-8746(2002)095[0432:LCAAIS]2.0.CO;2 . PDF. free .
2. Web site: F. C. . Thompson . Vockeroth, J. R. . Sedman, Y. S. . A Catalogue of the Americas South of the United States: Family Syrphidae . Museu de Zoologia . São Paulo, Brasil . 2 February 2011.
3. Web site: Ermanno . Giglio-Tos . Ditteri del Messico . C. Clausen . Torino, Italia . 16 February 2011.