''Heringia vitripennis'' is a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

species of

hoverfly Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while ...

Description

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Morphology of Diptera Dipteran morphology differs in some significant ways from the broader morphology of insects. The Diptera is a very large and diverse order of mostly small to medium-sized insects. They have prominent compound eyes on a mobile head, and (at most) ...

Lateral dust spots on frons conspicuous. 3rd antennomere (basoflagellomere) elongate, 2–3 times as long as broad. Male coxa 2 and trochanter 3 without spurs. Abdomen tergites black. Abdomen elongated. 1 with a shiny, pale pit; 2 without keel. Thorax dorsum with long white hairs. Face mostly black-haired. The male genitalia are figured by Delucchi and Pschorn-Walcher (1955). Delucchi et al. (1957) figure the larva. See references for determination

Biology

A woodland species (conifer forest and plantation, deciduous forest (''Quercus'', ''Carpinus'', ''Ulmus''), suburban parks and gardens. Arboreal but visits flowers of white umbellifers, ''Euphorbia'', ''Potentilla'', ''Prunus serotina'', ''Rosa'', ''Rubus fruticosus'' and ''Salix''. The larvae are predacious on adelgid aphids. The flight period is May to September.

Distribution

Southern Sweden to central France. Ireland eastwards through North Europe and Central Europe into Russia and on to the Russian Far East and Siberia to the Pacific coast.Peck, L.V. (1988) Syrphidae. In: Soos, A. & Papp, L. (eds.) ''Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera'', 8: 11-230. Akad.Kiado, Budapest.

References

Diptera of Europe Pipizinae Insects described in 1822 Taxa named by Johann Wilhelm Meigen {{Syrphidae-stub