Spheginobaccha Explained

Spheginobaccha is a genus of hoverflies, with 15 known species.^[1] The genus is readily separated from other microdons by the incomplete metathoracic bridge, round/oval basoflagellomere, occiput with a dorsolateral crease,and other characters.^[2]

Biology

Larvae are found in ant nests.

Distribution

They are native to Africa (five species) and Asia (eight species).^[2]

Species

The macropoda group (Asia):^[3]

• S. aethusa (Walker, 1849)
• S. chillcotti Thompson, 1974^[3]
• S. demeijerei van Doesburg, 1968
• S. duplex (Walker, 1857)
• S. humeralis (Sack, 1926)
• S. knutsoni Thompson, 1974^[3]
• S. lieftincki Doesburg, 1968
• S. macropoda (Bigot, 1883)
• S. melancholia Hull, 1937
• S. vandoesburgi Thompson, 1974^[3]

The rotundiceps group (South Africa):^[3]

• S. dexioides Hull, 1944
• S. dubia Thompson, 1974^[3]
• S. pamela Thompson & Hauser, 2015^[4]
• S. rotundiceps (Loew, 1857)
• S. stuckenbergi Thompson & Hauser, 2015^[4]

The perialla group (Malawi):^[3]

• S. perialla Thompson, 1974^[3]

The ruginosa group (Madagascar):

• S. ruginosa Dirickx, 1995^[5]

Notes and References

1. Menno . Reemer. Gunilla. Ståhls. 2013. Generic revision and species classification of the Microdontinae (Diptera, Syrphidae). ZooKeys. 288. 1–213. 10.3897/zookeys.288.4095. 23798897. 3690914. free.
2. Cheng . Xin-Yue . Thompson, F. Christian . 2008 . A generic conspectus of the Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) with the description of two new genera from Africa and China . Zootaxa . 1879 . 21–48 . 10.11646/zootaxa.1879.1.3 . 4889764 . 1175-5334 . PDF Adobe Acrobat . 2009-09-11 .
3. Thompson. F.C.. The genus Spheginobaccha de Meijere (Diptera: Syrphidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society. 1974. 100. 3. 255–287. 25078156.
4. Thompson . F. Christian . Hauser . Martin . In Honor of Brian Stuckenberg: Two New Spheginobaccha Species of Flower Flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Afrotropics . African Invertebrates . 2015 . 56 . 3 . 769–777 . 10.5733/afin.056.0318 . 85980434 . 22 December 2018 . free .
5. Dirickx . H.G. . Le Genre Spheginobaccha de Meijere à Madagascar (Diptera: Syrphidae) . Annales de la Société Entomologique de France . 1995 . 31 . 2 . 151–156.