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

Ceriana conopsoides (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms and other combinations:

Ceria clavicornis Fabricius, 1794 | Cerioides conopoides Bezzi & Stein, 1907 | Cerioides uralensis Becker, 1921 | Conops vaginicornis Schrank, 1803 | Musca adunata Geoffroy, 1785 | Musca univalvis Turton, 1801 |

  • Ceriana conopsoides, female 579
    Ceriana conopsoides (Linnaeus, 1758)     
    Ceriana conopsoides, female, det. Eckart Stolle
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2006-05-28 11:24:25
    Image number: 579
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2006-05-28 11:24:25
    det. Eckart Stolle

Classification:
Ceriana conopsoides belongs to the subfamily Eristalinae, tribe Cerioidini.
Distribution:
Finland south to the Mediterranean and North Africa; France east through central Europe and on into Asiatic parts of Russia to the Pacific; China. Rare and decreasing in western Europe.
Habitat:
Deciduous forest (Fagus, Quercus) with overmature trees.
Description:
The conspicuous yellow-black drawn Ceriana conopsoides has a body length of 10.1 - 15.7 mm (female) and 9.2 - 13.8 mm (male). The abdomen shows 3 narrow yellow cross strips. The scutellum is yellow at the base. The antennae (with sensor bristles on the tip of the third antenna segment) sit on an extension of the forehead, which is longer than the the first antenna segment (scapus).
Biology:
Adults fly from May to September and visit various umbellifers, Cirsium, Dianthus, Euonymus, Euphorbia, Physocarpus, Rubus fruticosus and Sorbus aucuparia.
Larvae were found in sap runs and damp tree-holes of deciduous trees, notably Populus and Ulmus.

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. Speight, M.C.D. & Sarthou, J.-P.: StN keys for the identification of adult European Syrphidae (Diptera), Glasgow 2011/Clés StN pour la détermination des adultes des Syrphidae Européens (Diptères), Glasgow 2011. Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, Vol. 66, 120 pp, Syrph the Net publications, Dublin.
  4. Steenis, J., Ricarte, A., Vujić, A., Birtele, D., & Speight, M.: Revision of the West-Palaearctic species of the tribe Cerioidini (Diptera, Syrphidae). Zootaxa, 4196(2), (2016), 151–209. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4196.2.1