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

Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)

Synonyms and other combinations:

Lasiophticus gemellarii Rondani, 1845 | Lasiopticus sulphureus Sack, 1935 | Olbiosyrphus scufinus Dzhafarova, 1974 |

  • Scaeva albomaculata, female 534
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, female, det. Gerard Pennards
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-22 14:37:10
    Image number: 534
    female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-22 14:37:10
    det. Gerard Pennards
  • Scaeva albomaculata, female 535
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-22 14:37:56
    Image number: 535
    female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-22 14:37:56
  • Scaeva albomaculata, female 536
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-22 14:39:11
    Image number: 536
    female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-22 14:39:11
  • Scaeva albomaculata, female 537
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-22 14:39:36
    Image number: 537
    female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-22 14:39:36
  • Scaeva albomaculata, female 538
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-28 17:32:07
    Image number: 538
    female
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-28 17:32:07
  • Scaeva albomaculata, male 539
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, male, det. Gerard Pennards
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-27 16:50:26
    Image number: 539
    male
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-27 16:50:26
    det. Gerard Pennards
  • Scaeva albomaculata, male 540
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, male
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2009-03-27 16:50:47
    Image number: 540
    male
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2009-03-27 16:50:47
  • Scaeva albomaculata, male 7719
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, male, conf. Grigory Popov
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2017-05-10 10:53:49
    Image number: 7719
    male
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2017-05-10 10:53:49
    conf. Grigory Popov
  • Scaeva albomaculata, male 8653
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, male
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2019-03-09 09:43:15
    Image number: 8653
    male
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2019-03-09 09:43:15
  • Scaeva albomaculata, male 8654
    Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842)     
    Scaeva albomaculata, male
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma; 2019-03-09 09:43:24
    Image number: 8654
    male
    ES, Fuerteventura, Costa Calma
    2019-03-09 09:43:24

Classification:
Scaeva albomaculata belongs to the subfamily Syrphinae, tribe Syrphini.
Distribution:
Iberian peninsula and round the Mediterranean basin to Morocco; Canary Islands; eastward through southern Russia, the Caucasus and southern Siberia to the far east and northern China; Afghanistan, Mongolia.
Habitat:
Open ground, dry grassland.
Description:
Thorax shiny; lateral margin of the mesoscutum with a distinct yellow, longitudinal stripe; abdomen with 3 pairs of whitish spots, spots on the tergites 3 and 4 oblique with almost straight anterior margin; sternites with narrow, black, transversely extending bands that almost reach the margins; front femora completely white-haired; forehead swollen; eyes hairy.
A similar species is the Pied Hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri. In this, the front edges of the oblique patches on the tergites 3 and 4 are curved inwards.
Biology:
Scaeva albomaculata flies from mid of June to the beginning of September (throughout the year in the Canary Isles). The species is highly migratory. The adult flies visit flowers (e.g. Cytisus, Senecio and Thapsia ) for feeding on nectar and pollen .
The larvae of Scaeva albomaculata feed on various species of aphids on herbs, shrubs and trees.
The development time of the species is strongly influenced by the environmental conditions. When rearing under laboratory conditions at 27°C, the larvae of Scaeva albomaculata hatched after 4 to 5 days. The 3 larval stages were completed in about 10 days. During this period, a larva consumed on average more than 500 aphids of the offered species Macrosiphum rosae (rose aphid). The larvae pupated and adults emerged after 6 to 7 days. Overall, preimaginal development takes about 3 weeks. When fed with honey solution and pollen, the imagines of Scaeva albomaculata lived 25 to 35 days, without food only about 4 days.
Predators:
Diplazon laetatorius (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)
Dotriothorax sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

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. 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.
  4. Speight, M.C.D. & Sarthou, J.-P. (2014) StN keys for the identification of the European species of various genera of Syrphidae (Diptera) 2014 / Clés StN pour la détermination des espèces Européennes de plusieurs genres des Syrphidae (Diptères) 2014. Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, Vol. 80, 125 pp, Syrph the Net publications, Dublin
  5. Láska P., Pérez-Bañón C., Mazánek L., Rojo S., Ståhls G., Marcoz-García M. A., Bičík V. & Dušek J.: Taxonomy of the genera Scaeva, Simosyrphus and Ischiodon (Diptera: Syrphidae): Descriptions of immature stages and status of taxa, Eur. J. Entomol. 103: 637–655, 2006, ISSN 1210-5759
  6. Farzad Jalilian: Development and Feeding Capacity of Scaeva albomaculata (Macqaurt) (Diptera: Syrphidae) fed with rose aphid, Macrosiphum rosae (Homoptera: Aphididae), Biological Forum – An International Journal 7(1): 1377-1381(2015), ISSN No. (Print): 0975-1130, ISSN No. (Online): 2249-3239