Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Diptera (True flies) ➔ Family Syrphidae (Hoverflies)
Epistrophe eligans (Harris, 1780)
Zweiband-Wiesenschwebfliege
Synonyms and other combinations:
Musca elegans Harris, 1782 | Musca interruptus Gmelin, 1790 | Scaeva fenestrata Meigen, 1822 | Scaeva volitans Gravenhorst, 1807 | Syrphus bifasciatus Fabricius, 1794 | Syrphus fulvipes Wiedemann, 1822 | Syrphus trifasciatus Strobl, 1898 |
Classification:
Epistrophe eligans belongs to the subfamily Syrphinae, tribe Syrphini.Distribution:
Southern Sweden southwards to Iberia; from Ireland eastwards through central and southern Europe into Turkey and European parts of Russia as far as the Caucasus.Habitat:
Deciduous forests, forest edges, parks, gardens - in places with trees and shrubs in combination with open areas.Description:
Epistrophe eligans has a body length of 9 - 12 mm, a coppery shining thorax and bald eyes. The yellow part on the abdomen may vary in size. The males have 2 yellow spots on segment 2 and a narrow yellow (sometimes interrupted) band on the front edge of segment 3. The females have larger yellow spots on segment 2, which is often almost completely yellow. The 4th segment is usually completely black in both sexes.Biology:
Epistrophe eligans flies in one generation from April to June. Adults are flower visitors. The females lay their eggs preferably in a few meters height in aphid colonies on various tree and shrub species.The larvae are aphid hunters. They live mostly on trees and shrubs, sometimes on herbaceous plants. They are well adapted to their environment by their greenish color. The larvae are resistant to drought. They usually feed in the evening and at night. After about 3 weeks the larvae are fully grown and start with the long diapause characteristic for the species, that means they spend the summer and the following winter in the litter layer. In the spring, the larvae pupate. After 2 - 3 weeks the new generation of Epistrophe eligans hatches.
References, further reading, links:
- 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.
- 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.
- Gerald Bothe: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) Deutschlands und der Niederlande, DJN, 1984, ISBN 3-923376-07-3
- 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.
- Graham E. Rotheray: Colour Guide to Hoverfly Larvae (Diptera, Syrphidae) in Britain and Europe, Dipterists Digest No.9, 1993, Derek Whiteley, Sheffield, England, ISSN 0853 7260
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- Anasimyia transfuga
- Baccha elongata
- Brachyopa sp.
- Brachypalpoides lentus
- Brachypalpus laphriformis
- Brachypalpus sp.
- Brachypalpus valgus
- Ceriana conopsoides
- Ceriana vespiformis
- Chalcosyrphus femoratus
- Chalcosyrphus nemorum
- Chalcosyrphus valgus
- Cheilosia albipila
- Cheilosia albitarsis
- Cheilosia chrysocoma
- Cheilosia illustrata
- Cheilosia pagana
- Cheilosia scutellata
- Cheilosia sp.
- Chrysogaster sp.
- Chrysotoxum bicinctum
- Chrysotoxum fasciatum
- Chrysotoxum festivum
- Chrysotoxum verralli
- Criorhina berberina
- Dasysyrphus albostriatus
- Dasysyrphus sp.
- Dasysyrphus tricinctus
- Didea fasciata
- Didea intermedia
- Didea sp.
- Epistrophe diaphana
- Epistrophe eligans
- Epistrophe flava
- Epistrophe grossulariae
- Epistrophe melanostoma
- Epistrophe melanostoma/nitidicollis
- Epistrophella euchroma
- Eristalinus megacephalus
- Eristalis arbustorum
- Eristalis interrupta
- Eristalis intricaria
- Eristalis lineata
- Eristalis rupium
- Eristalis similis
- Eristalis sp.
- Eumerus purpurariae
- Eumerus sp.
- Eupeodes corollae
- Eupeodes luniger
- Eupeodes sp.
- Ferdinandea cuprea
- Helophilus hybridus
- Helophilus sp.
- Helophilus trivittatus
- Ischiodon aegyptius
- Leucozona glaucia
- Leucozona laternaria
- Leucozona lucorum
- Melangyna lasiophthalma
- Melangyna quadrimaculata
- Melangyna umbellatarum
- Melanogaster sp.
- Melanostoma scalare
- Meligramma triangulifera
- Meliscaeva cinctella
- Merodon ambiguus
- Merodon avidus
- Merodon moenium
- Merodon obscuritarsis
- Merodon sp.
- Microdon analis/major
- Microdon mutabilis/myrmicae
- Myolepta dubia
- Orthonevra sp.
- Paragus sp.
- Parasyrphus lineolus
- Parhelophilus sp.
- Pipiza austriaca
- Pipiza bimaculata
- Pipiza fenestrata
- Pipiza quadrimaculata
- Pipiza sp.
- Platycheirus rosarum
- Platycheirus sp.
- Rhingia rostrata
- Scaeva albomaculata
- Scaeva selenitica
- Sericomyia lappona
- Sphaerophoria rueppelli
- Sphaerophoria sp.
- Sphegina sp.
- Spilomyia saltuum
- Syrphus sp.
- Syrphus vitripennis
- Temnostoma bombylans
- Temnostoma meridionale
- Temnostoma vespiforme
- Tropidia scita
- Xanthogramma citrofasciatum
- Xanthogramma pedissequum
- Xylota segnis
- Xylota sp.
- Xylota sylvarum
- Aspen Hoverfly
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- Bumblebee Hoverfly
- Common Bog Hoverfly
- Common Drone Fly
- Common Snout-hoverfly
- Deadhead Hover Fly
- Figwort Cheilosia
- Hornet Mimic Hoverfly
- Large Hoverfly
- Large Narcissus Fly
- Larger Spotty-eyed Drone Fly
- Long Hoverfly
- Marmalade Fly
- Pied Hoverfly
- Pine Hoverfly
- Snouted Duckfly
- Summer Fly
- Sun Fly
- Tapered Drone Fly
- Thick legged Hoverfly
- White-banded Drone Fly