Platycheirus albimanus

Platycheirus albimanus is a common widespread species of hoverfly. A holarctic species its range includes Greenland, Iceland, Britain, mainland Europe, Russia, across Siberia to the pacific coast, the Philippines, Alaska, western Canada and United States.

Platycheirus albimanus
male
female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Subfamily: Syrphinae
Tribe: Bacchini
Genus: Platycheirus
Subgenus: Platycheirus
Species:
P. albimanus
Binomial name
Platycheirus albimanus
(Fabricius, 1781)
Synonyms


female in flight
Platycheirus albimanus on Tanacetum vulgare (video, 1m 40s)

The larvae feed on aphids on a wide range of plants, shrubs and trees.

Adults can be found in flight generally between April and October on the edges of woodland or scrub, heath or along hedgerows where they visit a wide range of flowers.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Description

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External images For terms see Morphology of Diptera
Wing cell bm with a small to rather large bare area (not trichose) Tibiae 1 abruptly dilated shortly before the apex. Metatarsus 1 posterior edge slightly curved. Face in front view, dusted silverish. Tergites with markings silvery or obscure yellow. Extremely similar in appearance to the southern European P. muelleri and the northern European P. nigrofemoratus and P. urakawensis.

References

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  1. ^ Ball, Stuart; Morris, Roger (2013). Britain's Hoverflies: An Introduction to the Hoverflies of Britain. Woodstock, Oxfordshire: Princeton University Press. pp. 296pp. ISBN 978-0-691-15659-0.
  2. ^ Ball, S.G.; Morris, R.K.A. (2000). Provisional atlas of British hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae). Monks Wood, UK: Biological Record Centre. pp. 167 pages. ISBN 1-870393-54-6.
  3. ^ Speight, M.C.D. (2011). "Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera)" (PDF). Syrph the Net, the Database of European Syrphidae. 65: 285pp.
  4. ^ Stubbs, Alan E.; Falk, Steven J (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide (2nd ed.). London: British Entomological and Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp. ISBN 1-899935-03-7.
  5. ^ Van Veen, M.P. (2004). Hoverflies of Northwest Europe, Identification Keys to the Syrphidae (Hardback). Utrecht: KNNV Publishing. p. 254. ISBN 90-5011-199-8.
  6. ^ Bei-Bienko, G.Y. & Steyskal, G.C. (1988) Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR, Volume V: Diptera and Siphonaptera, Part I. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi. ISBN 81-205-0080-6.
  7. ^ Coe, R.L. (1953) Diptera: Syrphidae. Handbks.ident.Br.insects, 10(1): 1-98. R.ent.Soc.London. pdf