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Classification:

Myolepta dubia belongs to the subfamily Eristalinae, tribe Brachyopini.

Distribution:

From southern Sweden south to Spain and the Mediterranean; from Britain (southern England) eastwards through central and southern Europe (Italy, former Yugoslavia) into European parts of Russia.

Habitat:

Open, well-developed deciduous forest with mature and overmature trees; maquis of evergreen Quercus ilex/Quercus suber with overmature and senescent trees; old orchards with ancient trees.

Description:

Body length 8 - 11 mm; wings with a dark spot in the middle area at the front edge.
Male: Abdomen slim, abdomen segments 2 and 3 with large orange side patches and a narrow black centerline.
Female: Abdomen shorter and wider with orange spots on the 2nd segment.

Biology:

Myolepta dubia flies from May to September. Adults visit the flowers of white umbellifers, Cistus, Crataegus, Potentilla erecta, Prunus and Rubus.
The larvae develop in wet rotting cavities in deciduous trees, such as beech, oak, maple and poplar. The development of larvae may take more than one year.
Myolepta dubia overwinters as a larva. The pupal stage lasts about 17 days.

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.