''Macrometopia maculipennis'' is a 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 ...

, from the family Syrphidae, in the order

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

. It was first found in Colombia, and was named after its patterned wings.

Description

This description is based on a female

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

. The head is metallic steel blue; the face is sparsely white pollinose except on the

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...

and along he oral margin; the gena is white; the frontal lunule is a dark brownish orange colour. The

occiput The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobes of the cereb ...

is white, with some black pile on its dorsal sixth; its eye being long and black. Its

antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

is black; basoflagellomere trapezoid, with a large basomedial sensory pit on the inner side. Its thorax's mesonotum is largely shiny, with a pair of interrupted medial white pollinose vittae; the postalar callus is black; its scutellum is shiny, with dense medial tufts of black pile, with the rest of the disc being black

pilose Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a pl ...

, with a dense ventral fringe of white pile; the pleuron is sparsely white pollinose; halter orange with brown head; calyter white with black margin and fringe; plumula black. Its legs are bluish black except for orange femoral-

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

l joints and apices of pro- and mesotibiae. The wings are

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

and microtrichose except for brown maculae and bare areas. Its abdomen is shiny except sparsely pollinose on the 1st segment and sterna; dorsum black pilose; the venter is white pilose except black on the 5th sternum.

Distribution

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

References

External links

ADW entry
Eristalinae Diptera of South America Insects described in 1999 Taxa named by F. Christian Thompson {{Syrphidae-stub