Meliscaeva cinctella explained

Meliscaeva cinctella is a Holarctic^[1] species of hoverfly.

Description

Wing length 7-9.75 mm. External imagesFor terms see Morphology of Diptera
Winglength 7-9-75 mm. Elongated body. Lunula black with a black mark above it. Face entirely yellow. The alula is a narrow, rectangule. Tergite 2 with broad, square yellow marks. Tergites 3 and 4 with broad yellow bands which extend to the abdominal margin and have little points (one pointing forwards and the other backwards).See references for determination.^{[2] [3]} .^{[4] [5]} The male genitalia are figured by Hippa (1968).^[6] Larva described and figured by Rotheray (1994).^[7]

Distribution

Palearctic Fennoscandia South to Iberia the Mediterranean basin. Ireland East through most of Europe, Turkey and European Russian then East to Siberia and the Russian Far East to the Pacific coast (Kuril Isles) Nearctic Alaska south to California and Colorado.^{[8] [9]}

Biology

The species' habitat includes deciduous and coniferous forest, hedgerows and suburban gardens and parks. Flowers visited include white umbellifers, Acer pseudoplatanus, Crataegus, Euphorbia, Ilex, Ligustrum, Lonicera periclymenum, Origanum vulgare, Polygonum cuspidatum, Potentilla erecta, Prunus spinosa, Ranunculus, Rhododendron, Rubus fruticosus, Rubus idaeus, Salix, Sambucus, Senecio jacobaea, Solidago virgaurea, Sorbus aucuparia and Taraxacum.^[10] The flight period is April to September. The larva feeds on aphids on bushes, shrub and trees.

Notes and References

1. Book: Stubbs, Alan E. . Falk, Steven J. . amp . 1983 . British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. 253, xvpp . British Entomological & Natural History Society.
2. Book: Van Veen, M.P. . Hoverflies of Northwest Europe, Identification Keys to the Syrphidae . Print . 2004 . KNNV Publishing . Utrecht . 90-5011-199-8 . 254 .
3. Van der Goot,V.S. (1981) De zweefvliegen van Noordwest - Europa en Europees Rusland, in het bijzonder van de Benelux. KNNV, Uitgave no.32: 275pp. Amsterdam.
4. 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. .
5. Coe, R.L. (1953) Diptera: Syrphidae. Handbks.ident.Br.insects, 10(1): 1-98. R.ent.Soc.London. pdf
6. Hippa, H. (1968) A generic revision of the genus Syrphus and allied genera (Diptera: Syrphidae) in the Palearctic region, with descriptions of the male genitalia. Acta Ent.Fenn., 25: 1-94.
7. Rotheray G., 1993 Colour Guide to Hoverfly Larvae Diptera, Syrphidae in Britain and Europe Dipterists Forum pdf
8. [Fauna Europaea]
9. 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 . 2013-06-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130615031244/http://esc-sec.ca/aafcmonographs/insects_and_arachnids_part_18.pdf . 2013-06-15 . dead .
10. de Buck, N. (1990) Bloembezoek en bestuivingsecologie van Zweefvliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) in hetbijzonder voor België. Doc.Trav. IRSNB, no.60, 1-167.