Hover fly

Adults are 3 ⁄16″ to ½″ long.

The face is flat and covered with downward pointing hairs. There are two large compound eyes and three very small simple eyes (ocelli). The compound eyes are covered with hairs. On the male the compound eyes meet at the top of the head, and most of the head is covered with hairs. On the female the compound eyes do not meet and the hairs are parted on the forehead. The antennae are very short.

The thorax is black tinged with bronze, with a fringe of pale hairs. There are usually two, sometimes three, pale longitudinal stripes, conspicuous toward the front, fading toward the rear. The plate between the abdomen and thorax (scutellum) is large and convex. It is colored like the thorax and has a fringe of long yellow hairs.

The abdomen is black with a pair of gray or silvery-white oblique spots on the second, third, and fourth segments.

The wings are clear and are covered with fine hairs. The second cell on the leading edge of each wing toward the tip (pterostigma) is tinted brown.

The legs do not have spurs. The third leg segment (femur) is thickened.

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

This genus has no common name. The common name for the family Syrphidae is hover flies, and it is used here for convenience.

Location: Woodbury, MN