Simosyrphus grandicornis

Common hover fly at Higgins, ACT

Simosyrphus grandicornis at Higgins, ACT - 6 Dec 2018
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Identification history

Simosyrphus grandicornis 17 Jan 2019 jgl
Melangyna viridiceps 8 Dec 2018 AlisonMilton

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5 comments

   18 Jan 2019
Kim how do you tell Simosyrphus from Melangyna hover flies? I am stumped.
jgl wrote:
   18 Jan 2019
S. grandicornis has dorsolateral yellow stripes on the thorax and yellow postalar calli which are absent in M. viridiceps; tergites 5+ have a distinct banded appearance in S. grandicornis, where T6+ are not readily visible in Melangyna viridiceps (or they're not present?)
   18 Jan 2019
Thanks JGL - I'll need to get the biological dictionary out to understand this explanation, which I will. Thanks again
KimPullen wrote:
   19 Feb 2019
Michael, I go by the 'dorsolateral stripes' that James mentions, on the sides of the thorax. S. grandicornis has larger yellow blotches on the abdomen, and is a slightly larger and more robust insect than M. viridiceps, although of course the size difference is not detectable in most of the images.
   19 Feb 2019
Thanks Kim

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  • Isotoma Associated plant

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