Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Syrphidae Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Diptera Genus Eumerus | |
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Similar Eumerus, Eumerus funeralis, Merodon equestris, Merodon, Cheilosia albitarsis | ||
Eumerus strigatus or Lesser bulb fly is a species of Hoverfly, from the family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera.
Contents
Description
External images For terms, see: Morphology of Diptera.
Wing length: 4–6.25 mm (0.157–0.246 in). Stigma are yellowish or light brown. Femora 3 is simple. Tergites are blackish, absolutely without reddish-brown markings. Male ocelli are in a equilateral triangle. Male genitalia figured by Van Veen (2004). The Larva is described and figured by Heiss (1938) .
Distribution
Palaearctic, Fennoscandia South to Iberia and the Mediterranean basin, Ireland east through Europe into Turkey and Russia. Also, from the Urals to the Pacific coast (Sakhalin) and Japan. Introduced to the Nearctic and Australia and New Zealand.
Biology
The habitat is wetlands, deciduous woodland, open ground, seasonally-flooded grassland, and open, dry unimproved pasture, including dune grassland. Also in horticultural land and suburban gardens. In dry grassland often settles on the ground, on stones etc. Flowers visited include umbellifers, Allium ursinum, Convolvulus, Eschscholzia californica, Euphorbia, Fragaria, Leontodon, Papaver, Potentilla erecta, Ranunculus, Sonchus arvensis, Taraxacum. The flight period is May to September. A bulb feeder. It is a minor pest of Liliaceae, parsnip, carrot, potato, asparagus, artichoke roots (Cynara scolymus).