''Pipiza noctiluca'' 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 ...

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) ...

Wing length 6.5 -8mm. Tarsae1: segments 1-2 yellowish; face broadened towards mouth edge with eye margins divergent. Wing: dark cloud at median.3rd segment as long as wide. Abdomen yellow spots with small or abdomen entirely grey black. See references for determination.

Distribution

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 ...

Atlantic zone of Europe and Scandinavia. All Europe if older records are accepted

Biology

Habitat: ''Salix'' stands and ''Quercus'' woodland, Atlantic scrub, conifer forest, conifer plantations. Suburban gardens and along hedges in farmland. Flowers visited include umbellifers, ''Crataegus'', ''Filipendula'', ''Ranunculus'', ''Rosa'', ''Stellaria'', ''Taraxacum''.de Buck, N. (1990) Bloembezoek en bestuivingsecologie van Zweefvliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) in het bijzonder voor België. ''Doc.Trav.'' IRSNB, no.60, 1-167. Flies May to September. ''Pipiza'' larvae are predators of gall forming aphids.

References

Diptera of Europe Pipizinae Flies described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Syrphidae-stub