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Times">_._._._._._._. <html> <body> Thanks, Chris. Perfect match for the abdomen but as you state, this doesn't always have to be exact. The "frons" does not match with the fly in my photo, obviously another feature that variable.<br> Angus<br><br> At 07:28 PM 9/25/2006, you wrote:<br> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Hi Angus,<br><br> On 23-Sep-06, at 8:39 PM, Angus MacLean wrote:<br><br> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Here's another Hover Fly with a beautifully marked abdomen. <br><br> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58321572@N00/250842872/" eudora="autourl"> http://www.flickr.com/photos/58321572@N00/250842872/</a></blockquote><br> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><br> Another Hover Fly I uploaded earlier was thought to be a <i>Eristalis</i> spp. but this one although somewhat similar, I believe is a <i>Metasyrphus</i> spp., perhaps americanus although the latter has brighter yellow striping on the abdomen. </blockquote><br> This is a very distinctive species -- <i>Meliscaeva cinctella</i> (Zetterstedt, 1843), a monospecific genus. It is a common and widespread in both NS and NB. Some photos can be seen at:<br><br> <a href="http://insektenfotos.de/Meliscaeva%20cinctella%20(Spaete%20Fruehlingsschwebfliege)_002.jpg"> http://insektenfotos.de/Meliscaeva%20cinctella%20(Spaete%20Fruehlingsschwebfliege)_002.jpg</a> <br> <a href="http://bugguide.net/node/view/21554/bgimage" eudora="autourl"> http://bugguide.net/node/view/21554/bgimage</a><br><br> <i>Metasyrphus</i> are much wider and heavier bodied flies and the abdominal black bands of <i>M. americanus</i> (at least in most of the individuals that I have examined) have medial lobes.<br><br> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">The <i>Eristalis </i>spp. can be found at:<br><br> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58321572@N00/228628774/" eudora="autourl"> http://www.flickr.com/photos/58321572@N00/228628774/</a><br><br> Comments are appreciated.</blockquote><br> This is doubtless <i>Eristalis tenax</i> (Linnaeus, 1758), a very common and variable species in Nova Scotia.<br><br> A note to those interested in insects: in general identifying insects differs substantially from the process of identifying birds wherein one tries to match the colour and pattern of "field marks" with illustrations in books, etc. In some species of insects colour patterns can be quite variable within a species and over the life-span of the insect (i.e. many beetles begin adult life as very pale-coloured "tenereal" individuals) or there are multiple species which have overlapping or indistinguishable colouration and pattern. Much of insect identification is based on anatomical structure, features, and proportions such as that of the mandibular and labial palps, antennal segments; segments or proportions of tibia, tarsi, or femurs; venation of wings; setation or punctation patterns on different parts of the body, etc. <br><br> What all this means is that coloration and pattern of insects can be a rather unreliable and/or insufficient basis of identification.<br><br> Cheers,<br><br> Chris<br><br> <font face="Times, Times"> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.<br> Christopher Majka - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History<br> 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3A6<br> (902) 424-6435 Email <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca ><br> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.<br> </font></blockquote></body> </html>
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