Episyrphus Explained

Episyrphus is a genus of hoverflies in the subfamily Syrphinae. Larvae are predatory, often on aphids.^[1]

Two subgenera are recognized, Episyrphus and Asiobaccha. Species of the latter are distinguished by a petiolate abdomen.^[2]

It has been claimed that classification within the genus Episyrphus needs revision, due to the poor clarity of species names and distinguishing characteristics between them.^[3] Characters such as the colors on the abdomen or of the pile on the frons and scutellum, often taken as diagnostic, have been found to depend on temperature in studies on E. viridaureus.^{[2] [3]}

Species

• E. arcifer (Sack, 1927)
• E. balteatus (De Geer, 1776)
• E. canaqueus (Bigot, 1884)
• E. circularis Hull, 1941^[4]
• E. contax (Curran, 1947)
• E. contractus (Keiser, 1952)
• E. demeijerei (Curran, 1947)
• E. divertens (Walker, 1856)
• E. flavibasis Keiser, 1971^[5]
• E. fuscicolor (Bigot, 1884)
• E. glaber (Wright, 2013)
• E. insularis (Kassebeer, 2000)
• E. nigromarginatus (Vockeroth, 1973)^[6]
• E. noumeae (Bigot, 1884)
• E. obligatus (Curran, 1931)
• E. oliviae (Wright, 2013)
• E. perscitus (He & Chu, 1992)
• E. petilis (Vockeroth, 1973)^[6]
• E. schultzianus (Bezzi, 1908)
• E. stuckenbergi (Doesburg, 1957)
• E. trisectus (Loew, 1858)
• E. viridaureus (Wiedemann, 1824)
• E. virtuosa

Notes and References

1. Book: Stubbs, Alan E. . Falk, Steven J.. 1983 . British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide . British Entomological & Natural History Society. 253, xvpp.
2. 10.11646/zootaxa.3683.1.3 . Revision of the subgenus Episyrphus (Episyrphus) Matsumura (Diptera: Syrphidae) in Australia . 23 May 2023 . 2013 . Wright . Susan G. . Skevington . Jeffrey H. . Zootaxa . 3683 . 51–64 . 25250433 .
3. 10.6662/TESFE.202105_41(2).004 . Preliminary Results of the 2016 International Taiwan Expedition on SYRPHIDAE (DIPTERA) . 15 June 2023 . 2021 . 41 . 2 . Jeroen van Steenis . Tsung-Hsueh (Bill) Wu . Axel M. Ssymank . Wouter van Steenis . Jeffrey H. Skevington . Andrew D. Young . Chris J. Palmer . Menno P. van Zuijen . Brigitte Lechner-Ssymank . Shiuh-Feng Shiao . 臺灣昆蟲 .
4. Hull. Frank M. . 1941 . A study of syrphid flies from Madagascar. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia . 92. 309–334. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia..
5. Keiser. F.. 1971 . Syrphidae von Madagaskar (Dipt.). Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basal. 81. 223–318. ngib.
6. Vockeroth. J. R. . 1973 . Some new or uncommon Syrphini (Diptera: Syrphidae) from southern Africa I. Annals of the Natal Museum. 21. 595–607. The Natal Museum.