Xylota sylvarum

Xylota sylvarum is a common Palearctic species of hoverfly.^[4]

Xylota sylvarum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Syrphidae
Subfamily:	Eristalinae
Tribe:	Milesiini
Subtribe:	Xylotina
Genus:	Xylota
Species:	X. sylvarum
Binomial name
Xylota sylvarum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Musca longisco Harris, 1780[1] Musca sylvarum Linnaeus, 1758 Xylota longisco (Harris, 1780)[1] Syrphus impiger Rossi, 1790[2] Musca silvarum Hoslin, 1782[3]

Description

For terms see Morphology of Diptera
Wing length 9–12 mm. Thorax blackish. Four anterior legs partly yellow. Abdomen black with golden patches (adpressed golden hair). The male genitalia are figured by Hippa (1968).^[5] The larva is illustrated in colour by Rotheray (1994) ).^[6] See references for determination.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Distribution

Palearctic Fennoscandia South to Iberia. Ireland eastwards through North Europe on to Siberia and the Pacific coast.^[11][12]

Habitat.Czech Republic

Biology

Old woodland species running on the foliage of bushes and shrubs and on tree stumps. The larvae feed in damp, fungus-ridden decaying wood of Abies, Fagus and Quercus trunks and stumps, usually beneath the bark. The major habitat may be decaying tree roots...^[13]