Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Diptera (True flies) ➔ Family Syrphidae (Hoverflies)
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, female
BG, Naturpark Zlatni Piassatzi; 2008-08-23 08:06:34
Image number: 467
female
BG, Naturpark Zlatni Piassatzi
2008-08-23 08:06:34
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, female
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2006-07-30 12:24:00
Image number: 492
female
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
2006-07-30 12:24:00
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, female
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2005-08-20 12:32:03
Image number: 491
female
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
2005-08-20 12:32:03
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, female
DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz; 2021-05-24 13:45:05
Image number: 10363
female
DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz
2021-05-24 13:45:05
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, female
DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz; 2021-05-24 13:45:23
Image number: 10364
female
DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz
2021-05-24 13:45:23
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, female
DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz; 2021-05-24 13:45:10
Image number: 10365
female
DE, Chemnitz, Hutholz
2021-05-24 13:45:10
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, female
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2019-08-01 13:34:41
Image number: 9096
female
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
2019-08-01 13:34:41
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, male
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2019-08-08 12:37:20
Image number: 9097
male
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
2019-08-08 12:37:20
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, male
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2019-08-08 11:29:53
Image number: 9098
male
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
2019-08-08 11:29:53
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, male
BG, Naturpark Zlatni Piassatzi; 2008-09-04 15:20:56
Image number: 468
male
BG, Naturpark Zlatni Piassatzi
2008-09-04 15:20:56
Myathropa florea (Linnaeus, 1758) Totenkopfschwebfliege Deadhead Hover Fly
Myathropa florea, male
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2007-06-17 11:08:43
Image number: 490
male
DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
2007-06-17 11:08:43
Further vernacular names:
Batman Hoverfly, Yellow-haired Sun Fly
Classification:
Myathropa florea belongs to the subfamily Eristalinae, tribe Eristalini.
Distribution:
From Fennoscandia south to Iberia and the Mediterranean, the Canary Isles and North Africa; from Ireland eastwards through Eurasia to the Pacific coast.
Habitat:
In most types of deciduous forest; on humid pastures and in gardens.
Description:
Body length 10 - 14 mm; thorax velvety, short and densely haired with skull-like drawing; abdomen wide with large yellow spots; eyes hairy.
Biology:
Myathropa florea flies from April to Oktober with peaks in June and August. The adults visit the flowers of white umbelliferae, meadowsweet, morning glories, ivy, goldenrod, chestnuts, spindle trees, rhododendrons, elderberries, rowanberries and common snowball. They fly very fast and audible between flowering trees, often on the edge of forest streams. The males are often found in sunlit places in deciduous forests. They show territorial behavior and chase away other insects that approach their area. The females lay their eggs in water-logged places suited for the development of the larvae. Eggs deposited early in the year can develop into imagines in the same year. The development of the larvae can take a few months under favorable conditions, but also up to 2 or more years. The larvae live in water-filled cavities in rotting tree stumps, hollows between tree roots, at the junction between main branches and trunk, as well as in sap flows of deciduous and coniferous trees. They can also develop in wet cow dung and compost heaps.
Myathropa florea overwinters as a larva. The aquatic larvae are also called rat tail larvae, as they have a long tail-like breathing tube at the body end.
References, further reading, links:
- Gerald Bothe: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) Deutschlands und der Niederlande, DJN, 1984, ISBN 3-923376-07-3
- 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.
- 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.
