Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Diptera (True flies) ➔ Family Syrphidae (Hoverflies)

Blera fallax (Linnaeus, 1758)

Hundeschnauzenschwebfliege Pine Hoverfly

Synonyms and other combinations:

Blera nipponica Shiraki, 1968 | Syrphus seminiger Panzer, 1804 | Syrphus semirufus Fabricius, 1794 |

  • Blera fallax, male 3417
    Blera fallax (Linnaeus, 1758)  Hundeschnauzenschwebfliege  Pine Hoverfly 
    Blera fallax, male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2010-05-22 10:39:13
    Image number: 3417
    male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2010-05-22 10:39:13
  • Blera fallax, female 4613
    Blera fallax (Linnaeus, 1758)  Hundeschnauzenschwebfliege  Pine Hoverfly 
    Blera fallax, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2011-06-03 13:19:30
    Image number: 4613
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2011-06-03 13:19:30
  • Blera fallax, female 4614
    Blera fallax (Linnaeus, 1758)  Hundeschnauzenschwebfliege  Pine Hoverfly 
    Blera fallax, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2011-06-03 13:19:34
    Image number: 4614
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2011-06-03 13:19:34
  • Blera fallax, female 4615
    Blera fallax (Linnaeus, 1758)  Hundeschnauzenschwebfliege  Pine Hoverfly 
    Blera fallax, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2011-06-03 13:19:38
    Image number: 4615
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2011-06-03 13:19:38
  • Blera fallax, female 4616
    Blera fallax (Linnaeus, 1758)  Hundeschnauzenschwebfliege  Pine Hoverfly 
    Blera fallax, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2011-06-03 13:19:01
    Image number: 4616
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2011-06-03 13:19:01

Classification:
Blera fallax belongs to the subfamily Eristalinae.
Distribution:
Central and southerm Norway to the Pyrenees and Scotland eastwards through central Europe and Siberia to the Pacific coast (Sakhalin and Japan).
Habitat:
Preferred in old pine and spruce forests with deadwood, including subalpine pinus uncinata forests.
Description:
Blera fallax is a 10 - 12 mm large, predominantly black-colored, moderately hairy fly with an orange-red abdomen end and a downwardly elongated face.
Biology:
The adults flying from May to July are often found on raspberry blossoms (Rubus idaeus). Also barberries (Berberis), bog-stars (Parnassia), Prunus, dog-roses (Rosa Canina) and valerian (Valeriana) are visited. The saproxylic larvae of Blera fallax usually develop in holes of decaying pine stumps, especially of the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris).

References, further reading, links:
  1. Pape T. & Thompson F.C. (eds) (2017). Systema Dipterorum (version 2.0, Jan 2011). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2017 Annual Checklist (Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds.). Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2017. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-884X.
  2. M.C.D.Speight: Species Accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera), Glasgow 2011, Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, vol. 65, 285 pp., Syrph the Net publications, Dublin.
  3. Gerald Bothe: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) Deutschlands und der Niederlande, DJN, 1984, ISBN 3-923376-07-3