Sphaerophoria beattiei is a species of hoverfly belonging to the genus Sphaerophoria. It is endemic to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.[1] It was originally considered the only member of the genus Loveridgeana[1] but was found to be nested within Sphaerophoria in a DNA based phylogenetic analysis, along with three other species found in South Africa.[2] Almost nothing is known of its biology other than it pollinated now extinct flora on Saint Helena including the Saint Helena olive.[2]
| Sphaerophoria beattiei | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Syrphidae |
| Genus: | Sphaerophoria |
| Species: | S. beattiei
|
| Binomial name | |
| Sphaerophoria beattiei (Doesburg and Doesburg, 1977)
| |
References
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- ^ a b Doesburg, P.H. van (Sr.); Doesburg, P.H. van (Jr.) (1977). "La Faune terrestre de l'Ile de Sainte-Hélène, Volume 13, Fam. Syrphidae". Annales Mus r Afr cent (Ser 8 Sci zool). 215: 63–74.
- ^ a b Mengual, Ximo; Ståhls, Gunilla; Skevington, Jeffrey H. (2021-01-02). "Life on an island: the phylogenetic placement of Loveridgeana and Afrotropical Sphaerophoria (Diptera: Syrphidae) inferred from molecular characters". Systematics and Biodiversity. 19 (1): 22–53. doi:10.1080/14772000.2020.1795743. hdl:10138/333906. ISSN 1477-2000. S2CID 225321683.