Eristalinus taeniops

Eristalinus taeniops is a species of hoverfly, also known as the band-eyed drone fly.^[2]

Eristalinus taeniops
Male
Female
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Syrphidae
Genus:	Eristalinus
Species:	E. taeniops
Binomial name
Eristalinus taeniops (Wiedemann, 1818)
Synonyms[1]
List Eristalis aegyptius Walker, 1849 Eristalis communis Adams, 1905 Eristalis completa Abreu, 1924 Eristalis concinna Abreu, 1924 Eristalis secretus Walker, 1849 Eristalis torridus Walker, 1849 Helophilus pulchriceps Wiedemann, 1822

Distribution

This species is present in part of Europe (Albania, Balearic Islands, Bulgaria, the Canary Islands, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Spain), in North Africa, in the Near East (Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Syria), in the Caucasus, in the Eastern parts of Afrotropical realm to South Africa, in the Oriental realm (Nepal, Northern India), in Northern Pakistan and in Iran.^[3][4] It has been introduced to parts of North America (California and Florida). Recently this species has been discovered in Rio de Janeiro, Poços de Caldas, Curitiba, Brazil, Nova Maringá, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina, On March 25, 2025, the same species was found in the State of Goiás to in Brazil.

Habitat

These hoverflies can be found in Holly oak forests, in forest clearings, maquis, rivers, streams, and in coastal marshes. ^[5]

Side view

Description

Eristalinus taeniops can reach a length of 11–14 millimetres (0.43–0.55 in).^[5] These hoverflies exhibit a bee-like yellow and black coloration (Batesian mimicry) and are often mistaken for wasps or bees. The thorax has a metallic yellow-brown color and it is densely yellow hairy. Also the scutellum are yellow-brown colored. The abdomen is reddish-yellow, with transversal black bands. The compound eyes have five distinct, vertical, dark stripes.^[5] The wings are transparent, usually yellowish-brown at the base, while the halteres are brightly pale yellow colored.^[6][7]

Biology

Adults of these hoverflies can be found from April to October with a peak from May to August. They feed on nectar of yellow and white flowers such as Erica, Daphne, Senecio and Rosaceae species. The larvae live as rat-tailed maggots, mainly in the mud, in animal carcasses and in water contaminated by pig manure.^[5]

Gallery

• 
  Eristalinus taeniops. Male
• 
  Male eyes (Close-up)
• 
  Female
• 
  Female eyes (Close-up)
• 
  "Picture of the day" award winner Alvesgaspar
• 
  Eristalinus taeniops on a leaf of crape jasmine, in India.

Bibliography

• Joachim & Hiroko Haupt: Fliegen und Mücken: Beobachtung, Lebensweise. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-278-4.
• Ricarte, Antonio & M. Á. Marcos-García. 2017. A checklist of the Syrphidae (Diptera) of Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar. Zootaxa 4216(5): 401–440
• Speight, M.C.D. (2014) Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera), 2014. Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, vol. 78, 321 pp., Syrph the Net publications, Dublin.
• Celeste Pérez Bañón, Santos Rojo, Gunilla Ståhls and M. Angeles Marcos-García – Taxonomy of European Eristalinus (Diptera: Syrphidae) based on larval morphology and molecular data