Melangyna umbellatarum explained

Melangyna umbellatarum is a Holarctic species of hoverfly.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Description

External imagesFor terms, see: Morphology of Diptera.

Wing length: . This species closely resembles Melangyna ericarum, but the thorax has pale hairs on the disc (many black hairs in M. ericarum). The jowls have only pale hairs below the eyes, whereas M. ericarum has some black hairs. Tergite 2 has moderately large, yellow side-spots which extend close to or over the side-margins of the tergite (they are widely set back from it in M. ericarum). The legs have distinct clear orange markings (obscure in M. ericarum), and the four anterior femora have few or none of the posterior black bristles present in M. ericarum.^[5] For full characters and references, see Bartsch et al.^[6] and Bei-Bienko, G.Y. & Steyskal, G.C.^{[7] [8]} The male terminalia are figured by Hippa.^[9]

Distribution

Palearctic

Fennoscandia south to Iberia, Ireland east through North Europe, Central Europe and South Europe then east into European Russia and Siberia to Kamchatka. Nearctic: Alaska to Arizona (records may be referable to M. fisherii (Walton).^{[10] [11] [12]}

Biology

Habitat: streams with Salix, Salix carr, beside streams and rivers fringed by Salix.^[13] Flowers visited include white umbellifers, Foeniculum, Euphorbia,Filipendula ulmaria, Sorbus.^[14] The flight period is May to September.Larvae predate aphids.

Notes and References

1. Book: Stubbs . Alan E. . Falk . Steven J. . British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide . 2nd . 1983 . . London . 1-899935-03-7 . 253, xvpp .
2. Book: Ball . S.G. . Morris . R.K.A. . Provisional atlas of British hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae) . 2000 . Biological Record Centre . Monks Wood, UK . 1-870393-54-6 . 167 pages .
3. Book: Van Veen, M.P. . Hoverflies of Northwest Europe, Identification Keys to the Syrphidae . Hardback . 2004 . KNNV Publishing . Utrecht . 90-5011-199-8 . 254 .
4. [Fauna Europaea]
5. Coe, R.L. (1953). "Diptera: Syrphidae". Handbks. ident. Br. insects 10(1): 1-98. R. ent. Soc. London.
6. Bartsch, H., Binkiewicz, E., Rådén, A. & Nasibov,E. 2009 Nationalnyckeln till Sveriges flora och flora. Tvåvingar: Blomflugor: Syrphinae. Diptera:Syrphidae: Syrphinae. ArtDatabanken, SLU, Uppsala. 406 pp.
7. Bei-Bienko, G.Y. & Steyskal, G.C. (1988) Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR, Volume V: Diptera and Siphonaptera, Part I. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi. .
8. Speight, M.C.D. (1988). "Syrphidae known from temperate Western Europe: potential additions to the fauna of Great Britain and Ireland and a provisional species list for N. France". Dipterists Digest 1: 2-35.
9. Hippa, H. (1968b). "A generic revision of the genus Syrphus and allied genera (Diptera: Syrphidae) in thePalearctic region, with descriptions of the male genitalia". Acta Ent. Fenn 25: 1-94.
10. [Fauna Europaea]
11. Peck, L.V. (1988). "Syrphidae". In: Soos, A. & Papp, L. (eds.). Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera 8: 11-230. Akad. Kiado, Budapest.
12. Book: Vockeroth . J.R. . 1992 . The Flower Flies of the Subfamily Syrphinae of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland (Diptera: Syrphidae). Part 18. The Insects and Arachnids of Canada . 1–456 . Canadian Government Pub Centre . Ottawa, Ontario . 0-660-13830-1.
13. Speight . M.C.D. . 2011 . Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera). Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae . 65 . 285pp .
14. de Buck, N. (1990). "Bloembezoek en bestuivingsecologie van Zweefvliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) in het bijzonder voor België". Doc. Trav. IRSNB, no. 60, pp. 1-167.