Eristalinus megacephalus

Eristalinus megacephalus is a species of hoverfly.

Eristalinus megacephalus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Syrphidae
Genus:	Eristalinus
Species:	E. megacephalus
Binomial name
Eristalinus megacephalus Rossi, 1794[1]
Synonyms
Eristalis fasciatus Germar, 1844 Eristalis laetus Wiedemann, 1830 Eristalis obscuritarsis Meijere, 1908 Eristalis pallinevris Macquart, 1842 Eristalis quinquefasciatus Schiner, 1849 Eristalis quinquevittatus Macquart, 1849 Eristalis ridens Walker, 1849 Lathyrophthalmus ishigakiensis Shiraki, 1968

Description

Eristalinus megacephalus has a black abdomen and golden horizontal stripes larger in males. It has a black thorax,^[2] legs with black tips, transparent, flexible wings, a large head and golden compound eyes with pale purple spots.^[3] Being about 8–11 mm long,^[4] it is a good pollinator, and uses Batesian mimicry to look like hymenopteran bees and scare away predators.^[5] Its appearance is also similar to bee flies (family Bombyliidae).^[6] The species is listed in 2: 63 of Rossi's publication Mantissa insectorum.^[7] There are no subspecies. It is the rarest species of the genus Eristalinus, and is common but not abundant.

The species's flight period is from May to October, and is most plentiful from June to July.^[8]

Distribution

E. megacephalus can be found in most countries, including South Africa, Egypt, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, India, Java, Guam, Southern Spain, Turkey, North Africa, Iran, and coastal parts of Italy.^[9]

Gallery

• 
  Hoverfly on an Almond flower
• 
  Fly (E. megacephalus)
• 
  from Kerala, India
• 

See also

• Eristalinus quinquelineatus
• Eristalinus taeniops
• Eristalinus sepulchralis
• Eristalinus fuscicornis
• Eristalinus barclayi
• Eristalinus seychellarum
• Eristalinus aeneus