David Element

 

Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images

 

                                                                                                                            Flies 69 – Broad-banded Globetail Hoverflies

 

 

A bee on a flower

Description automatically generated

 

BROAD-BANDED GLOBETAIL HOVERFLY Sphaerophoria taeniata (m)

 

·         A provisional identification of a member of a difficult to identify genus. One of several extremely similar ‘short-bodied’ Sphaerophoria species, this male hoverfly with unbroken yellow abdominal bands, a bright overall appearance with a yellow face, and yellow hairs on the scutellum is a good candidate for Broad-banded Globetail Hoverfly S. taeniata. The image has been scanned from an old transparency. Some of the members of this genus cannot be fully identified morphologically without examination and/or dissection of the genitalia of collected samples, although it may be the case that a non-lethal and scientifically unequivocal alternative could exist in the form of DNA (genome) analysis, perhaps requiring the removal of part of a leg to obtain cells prior to release - probably a better option when dealing with rarities (but also undoubtedly more expensive).

  

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