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Eupeodes latifasciatus (Macquart, 1829)

Identification

Identification difficulty = 3. magnifier_icon camera_filled_icon according to Ball & Morris, 20241

Synonymy

Syrphus latifasciatus Macquart in Coe(1953)2, Metasyrphus latifasciatus (Macquart) in Stubbs & Falk (1983)3.

Biology

The larva has been found feeding on root aphids. In laboratory cultures it will feed on a wide range of aphids associated with low growing herbs and shrubs. Generally found in wetland situations, with a preference for wet meadows with Juncus or other lush vegetation. Adults visit a range of white and yellow flowers of low growing species, often in the vicinity of water.

Flight period

The following plots show the number of unique records per week that were not reported to be of eggs, larvae or pupae. phenology

Distribution

Widely distributed but scarce, with the number of records varying greatly from year to year. This suggests that it may be a migrant, or at least boosted in abundance in some years by immigration. There is a heavier concentration of records south of the southern uplands of Scotland. dotmap

Trends

The following plots show the Frescalo TFactor vs year and a map of the rescaled frequency (all records) for the species. For an explanation see here. trend

  1. Ball, S., & Morris, R. (2024). Hoverflies of Britain and Ireland. WILDGuides (3rd ed.). Oxford: Princeton University Press. ↩

  2. Coe, R. (1953). Diptera: Syrphidae. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, 10(1), 1–98. ↩

  3. Stubbs, A., & Falk, S. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide (1st ed.). Reading: BENHS. ↩