Taxonomy

Syrphus vitripennis

Distribution

Species Biology

Preferred environment

Forest; most types of deciduous and coniferous forest and conifer plantations; significantly anthropophilic, occurring along field hedges, in suburban gardens and parks. Today, S. vitripennis is a frequent insect of the standard Irish farmland landscape of green fields and hedges. It is also common in gardens, parks and conifer plantations. Although it is primarily an anthropophilic syrphid in Ireland, it occurs here in deciduous woodland and scrub as well. It is not, however, a wetland insect and is absent from bog and fen, except where patches of deciduous scrub (e.g. Alnus, Betula, Salix) are present. This habitat range would be typical for the species in Atlantic parts of Europe.

Adult habitat & habits

Tracksides, clearings etc.; males hover at 2 - 5 m beside trees and shrubs.

Flight period

End April/October (plus March in southern Europe), with peaks May/June and August. Larva: described and figured by various authors, e.g. Dusek & Laska (1964); aphid-feeding, on a range of trees, bushes, shrubs (e.g. Alnus, Betula, Prunus, Viburnum), lianas (Humulus) and taller herbaceous plants (e.g. Cirsium, Nicotiana). Kula (1982) records larvae overwintering among leaf litter on the floor of a spruce (Picea) forest; laboratory culture detailed by Bombosch (1957). Egg: Chandler (1968).

Flowers visited

White umbellifers; Achillea millefolium, Brassica rapa, Campanula rapunculoides, Cirsium, Convolvulus, Crataegus, Euphorbia, Leontodon, Origanum vulgare, Ranunculus, Rosa, Rubus fruticosus.

Irish reference specimens

In the collections of NMI and UM

Determination

See Key provided in StN Keys volume; Goeldlin (1996), Haarto and Kerppola (2007a), Bartsch et al (2009a). The male terminalia are figured by Dusek and Laska (1964). The adult insect is illustrated in colour by Kormann (1988), Stubbs and Falk (1983) and Torp (1994). The European female specimens referable to S. rectus may represent a variant of S. vitripennis, but would be misdetermined as S. ribesii using most available keys (see under Syrphus rectus).

Distribution

World distribution(GBIF)

Throughout most of the Palaearctic region, including north Africa; in N America from Alaska to California; Formosa. This species is highly migratory. It is a Holarctic species, occurring widely in Asiatic parts of the Palaearctic and in the Nearctic.

Irish distribution

Recorded as occurring in Ireland in Coe (1953). In Ireland, as elsewhere in most of Europe, S. vitripennis is generally distributed and common. 

Temporal change

Records submitted to Data Centre in 2024

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References

Publications

Speight, M. C. D. (2008) Database of Irish Syrphidae (Diptera). Irish Wildlife Manuals, No. 36. National Parks and Wildlife Service. Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin, Ireland.

Speight, M.C.D. (2014) Species accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera), 2014. Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, vol. 78, 321 pp., Syrph the Net publications, Dublin.

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