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

Epistrophella euchroma (Kowarz, 1885)

Synonyms and other combinations:

Syrphus euchroma Kowarz, 1885 |

  • Epistrophella euchroma, male 592
    Epistrophella euchroma (Kowarz, 1885)     
    Epistrophella euchroma, male, conf. Ectemnius
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2007-04-21 11:37:27
    Image number: 592
    male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2007-04-21 11:37:27
    conf. Ectemnius
  • Epistrophella euchroma, male 668
    Epistrophella euchroma (Kowarz, 1885)     
    Epistrophella euchroma, male, conf. Ectemnius
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2007-04-21 11:37:59
    Image number: 668
    male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2007-04-21 11:37:59
    conf. Ectemnius

Classification:
Epistrophella euchroma belongs to the subfamily Syrphinae, tribe Syrphini.
Distribution:
Northern Fennoscandia south to the Pyrenees and central Spain; from Britain (southern England) eastwards through central Europe into Russia, reaching the Caucasus in the south and eastern Siberia (Yakut) in Asia.
Habitat:
Mature deciduous forest (Fagus, Quercus) with well-developed undergrowth.
Description:
The 8 - 10 mm Epistrophella euchroma has a glossy thorax and a narrow, long abdomen with angled pairs of yellow spots that do not reach the side seam and very small characteristic yellow spots on the side seam at the level of the transitions between the segments. The scutellum is yellow hairy. The front tibiae and tarsi are yellow. The antennae are yellow in the male and brownish in the female.
Biology:
The species flies in one generation from April to June. Adults visit flowers of white umbellifers, Euphorbia, Acer pseudoplatanus, Prunus and Salix.
The larvae live on trees and shrubs and feed aphids. The mature larvae overwinter and pupate in spring.
Annotation:
The species can be found under different genus names, for example Epistrophe or Meligramma.

References, further reading, links:
  1. 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.
  2. Gerald Bothe: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) Deutschlands und der Niederlande, DJN, 1984, ISBN 3-923376-07-3
  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.