''Sphaerophoria bifurcata'', the symmetric globetail, is a species of
syrphid fly
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 ...
in the family
Syrphidae. The larvae of this genus are predators of aphids and other small hymenoptera. The larvae of this particular species is not known.
Description
For terms see
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) ...
.
Diagostic characters are the black frontal stripe that is forked or incised toward anterior, and
the tergites with yellow bands that are short, arcuate, narrowly divided or incised posteriorly. Examining the male genitalia is the best way to identify to species.
;Size
Length
;In the male
The frons has numerous black hairs. The scutum has lateral yellow stripes meeting the scutellum. The stripes are sometimes constricted behind suture. The legs hind femur are without long hairs posteroventrally. The legs are yellow with the fore and mid tarsi sometimes brownish. The apical tarsomeres are as pale as or paler than the basal tarsomere. Tergites 2-4 have narrow yellow bands usually entire or narrowly divided. Sternite 2 has long sparse straight hairs. ThesSurstylus has the dorsal lobe depressed, with long hairs along ventral margin. The inner lobe is present but with variable shapes. The ventral lobe is broad, abruptly constricted very near apex, with short preapical toothlike posterior process and short fingerlike apical process. The genitalia are illustrated by Vockeroth
; In the female
The frons has a broad median black stripe extending to antennae where it bifurcate apically. The yellow areas of frons has many black hairs. The tergites 2 through 4 have narrow yellow bands mostly entire on 2 and 3 but usually divided on 4.
Distribution
British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta, Oregon, Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire.
References
Syrphini
Hoverflies of North America
Insects described in 1973
{{syrphidae-stub