''Merodon'' is a large genus of bee-like

hoverflies 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 ...

. The majority of the species are centered on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and it is the second largest hoverfly genus in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with more than 50 European species. It is distributed over the

Palaearctic 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 ...

and

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

s, with most European species occurring in Southern and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

. The centre of distribution of this genus appears to be Turkey, where about 65 species have been recorded. Some species occur in Africa (Morocco through East Africa and Ghana to South Africa) and the middle East, as far as Pakistan. Given the rate at which new species have been recorded over the past decades, the worldwide number of species could exceed 200. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e feed on the bulbs or

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s of

monocotyledon Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of ...

One of the more common species in the genus, ''

Merodon equestris ''Merodon equestris'' (Narcissus bulb fly, greater bulb fly, large bulb fly, large Narcissus fly) is a Holarctic species of hoverfly (Family Syrphidae). Like many other hoverflies it displays a colouration pattern similar to a stinging insect ...

'' is known as the Narcissus bulb fly, greater bulb-fly, large bulb fly or large Narcissus fly.

Systematics

Species include: *'' M. aberrans''

Egger Egger may mean: *Egger Island, an island in Greenland * Egger-bahn; model railway manufacturer * Easter egger * Egger (company); wood based panel manufacturer *Egger (surname) Egger is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * ...

, 1860 *'' M. abruzzensis'' van der Goot, 1969 *'' M. adriaticus'' Veselić, Vujić & Radenković, 2017 *'' M. aerarius'' Rondani, 1857 *'' M. analis'' Meigen, 1822 *'' M. aureus'' Meigen, 1822 *'' M. affinis'' Gil Collado, 1930 *'' M. alagoezicus'' Paramonov, 1925 *'' M. albifrons'' Meigen, 1822 *'' M. albifasciatus'' Macquart, 1842 *'' M. albonigrum'' Vujic, Radenkovic & Simic, 1996 *'' M. alexandri'' Popov, 2010 *'' M. alexeji'' Paramonov, 1925 *'' M. ambiguus'' Bradescu, 1986 *'' M. andalusiacus'' Paramonov, 1929 *'' M. andriotes'' Vujić, Radenković & Šašic, 2018 *'' M. annulatus'' ( Fabricius, 1794) *'' M. antonioi'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. armipes'' Rondani, 1843 *'' M. arundanus'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. atratus'' (Oldenberg, 1919) *'' M. atricapillatus'' Šašić, Ačanski & Vujić, 2018 *'' M. aureus'' Fabricius, 1805 *'' M. auripes'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. auripilus'' Meigen, 1830 *'' M. avidus'' (Rossi, 1790) *'' M. balkanicus'' Šašić, Ačanski & Vujić, 2016 *'' M. bessarabicus'' Paramonov, 1924 *'' M. biarcuatus'' Curran, 1939 *'' M. bolivari'' Gil Collado, 1930 *'' M. cabanerensis'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. caerulescens'' Loew, 1869 *'' M. calidus'' Vujić, Ačanski & Šašić, 2020 *'' M. caucasicus'' Portschinsky, 1877 *'' M. chalybeatus'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. chalybeus'' Wiedemann in Meigen, 1822 *'' M. cinereus'' ( Fabricius, 1794) *'' M. clavipes'' ( Fabricius, 1781) *'' M. clunipes'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. confinium'' Šašić & Vujić, 2020 *'' M. confusus'' Marcos-García, Vujić, Ricarte & Ståhls, 2011 *'' M. constans'' (Rossi, 1794) *'' M. crassifemoris'' Paramonov, 1925 *'' M. crymensis'' Paramonov, 1925 *'' M. crypticus'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. desuturinus'' Vujic, Simic & Radenkovic, 1995 *'' M. distinctus'' Palma, 1863 *'' M. dobrogensis'' Bradescu, 1982 *'' M. dzhalitae'' Paramonov, 1926 *'' M. elegans'' Hurkmans, 1993 *'' M. equestris'' ( Fabricius, 1794) *'' M. eques'' ( Fabricius, 1805) *'' M. erivanicus'' Paramonov, 1925 *'' M. erymanthius'' Vujić, Ačanski and Šašić, 2018 *'' M. escalerai'' Gil Collado, 1929 *'' M. escorialensis''

Strobl Strobl (or Strobl am Wolfgangsee) is a municipality of the Salzburg-Umgebung District (''Flachgau''), in the northeastern portion of the Austrian state of Salzburg, right on the border with Upper Austria. It comprises the Katastralgemeinden of Aig ...

, 1909 *'' M. euri'' Vujić & Radenković, 2018 *'' M. femoratoides'' Paramonov, 1925 *'' M. femoratus'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. flavus'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. flavicornis'' Macquart, 1842 *'' M. fractipes'' Paramonov, 1936 *'' M. funestus'' ( Fabricius, 1794) *'' M. gallicus'' (Vujíc & Radenković, 2012) *'' M. geniculatus''

, 1909 *'' M. haemorrhoidalis'' Sack, 1913 syn. of M. analis *'' M. hamifer'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. hispanicus'' Sack, 1931 *'' M. hoplitis'' Hurkmans, 2012 *'' M. hurkmansi'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. kaloceros'' Hurkmans, 1993 *'' M. karadaghensis'' Zimina, 1989 *'' M. kiritschenkoi'' ( Stackelberg, 1960) *'' M. kozufensis'' Radenković & Vujić, 2020 *'' M. legionensis'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. loewi'' van der Goot, 1964 *'' M. longicornis'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. longispinus'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. lusitanicus'' Hurkmans, 1993 *'' M. luteihumerus'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. luteomaculatus'' Vujić, Ačanski and Šašic, 2018 *'' M. manicatus'' Sack, 1938 *'' M. mariae'' Hurkmans, 1993 *'' M. medium'' Vujić, Likov & Radenković, 2020 *'' M. megavidus'' Vujić & Radenković, 2016 *'' M. minutus''

, 1893 *'' M. nanus'' Sack, 1931 *'' M. natans'' ( Fabricius, 1794) *'' M. naxius'' Vujić & Šašić, 2018 *'' M. nigritarsis'' Rondani, 1845 *'' M. nisi'' Veselić, Vujić & Radenković, 2017 *'' M. nitens'' Hurkmans & Vujić, 2020 *'' M. olympius'' Vujić & Radenković, 2020 *'' M. orjensis'' Radenković & Vujić, 2020 *'' M. parietum'' Wiedemann in Meigen, 1822 *'' M. peloponnesius'' Vujić, Radenković, Ačanski and Šašic, 2018 *'' M. planiceps'' Loew, 1862 *'' M. pruni'' (Rossi, 1790) *'' M. quercetorum'' Marcos-García, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 *'' M. rojoi'' Vujić & Radenković, 2020 *'' M. rubidiventris'' Costa, 1884 *'' M. ruficornis'' Meigen, 1822 *'' M. rufipes'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. rufus'' Meigen, 1838 *'' M. sacki'' ( Paramonov, 1936) *'' M. segetum'' ( Fabricius, 1794) *'' M. spicatus''

Becker Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany it can also derive from the ...

, 1907 *'' M. spineus'' Vujić, Šašić & Likov, 2020 *'' M. spinitarsis'' Paramonov, 1929 *'' M. splendens'' Hurkmans, 1993 *'' M. strobli'' Bradescu, 1986 *'' M. stukei'' Hauser & Hurkmans, 1997 *'' M. tener'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. teruelensis'' van der Goot, 1966 *'' M. testaceoides'' Hurkmans, 1993 *'' M. toscanus'' Hurkmans, 1993 *'' M. triangulum'' Vujić, Radenković & Hurkmans, 2020 *'' M. tricinctus'' Sack, 1913 *'' M. trochantericus'' Costa, 1884 *'' M. unguicornis''

, 1909 *'' M. velox'' Loew, 1869 *'' M. virgatus'' Vujić & Radenković, 2016 *'' M. vladimiri'' Vujić, 2018

References

General References for Merodon

*Hurkmans, Willem, 1993. A Monograph of Merodon (Diptera: Syrphidae). ''Tijdschrift voor Entomologie'' 136: 147-234. * Sack, Pius, 1913. ''Die Gattung Merodon Meigen (Lampetia Meigen olim.). Abhandlungen des Senckenbergische Gesellschafts der Naturforscher'' 31: 427-462 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1757479 Hoverfly genera Diptera of Europe Eumerini Taxa named by Johann Wilhelm Meigen