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Classification:

Cheilosia variabilis belongs to the subfamily Eristalinae, tribe Rhingiini.

Distribution:

Southern Fennoscandia south to Iberia; from Ireland eastwards through central and southern Europe (Italy, former Yugoslavia) into Bulgaria, Turkey and Russia as far as western Siberia. Also in North Africa (Morocco).

Habitat:

Humid/mesophilous deciduous and mixed forest, alluvial hardwood forest.

Description:

The 9 - 12 mm large Cheilosia variabilis has black legs (including the feet) and a scutellum with marginal bristles. The face and eyes are hairy, the antennae are black. The wings are tinted evenly brown.

Biology:

Adults fly from April to September in two generations. They visit white umbellifers, Caltha, Cirsium, Euphorbia, Galium, Ranunculus, Rubus, Scrophularia nodosa and Sorbus aucuparia. The larvae have been found in the roots of Scrophularia nodosa and in the stalks of Scrophularia auriculata.

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. Gerald Bothe: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) Deutschlands und der Niederlande, DJN, 1984, ISBN 3-923376-07-3
3. 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.
4. Menno Reemer, Willem Renema, Wouter van Steenis, Theo Zeegers, Aat Barendregt, John T. Smit, Mark P. van Veen, Jeroen van Steenis, Laurens van der Leij: De Nederlandse Zweefvliegen (Diptera: Syrphidae), Nederlandse Fauna 8, 2009.