Xanthogramma pedissequum

Xanthogramma pedissequum is a species of hoverfly.[2]

Xanthogramma pedissequum
male
female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Syrphidae
Genus:	Xanthogramma
Species:	X. pedissequum
Binomial name
Xanthogramma pedissequum (Harris, 1776)
Synonyms[1]
List Doros decoratus Zetterstedt, 1843 Musca pedissequum Harris, 1776 Scaeva flavicincta Gravenhorst, 1807 Syrphus dives Róndani, 1857 Syrphus ornatum Meigen, 1822 Syrphus pulcher Meigen, 1835 Xanthogramma bilobatum Szilády, 1940 Xanthogramma flavifrons Szilády, 1940 Xanthogramma flavipleura Coe, 1957 Xanthogramma nigripes Szilády, 1940 Xanthogramma nobilitatum Frey, 1946 Xanthogramma ornatum (Meigen, 1822)

Etymology

The Latin scientific name pedissequum means that follows on foot, like an attendant.

Distribution and habitat

This uncommon species is present in most of Europe, in Western Siberia, in the Near East and in North Africa.[3] It prefers grassland, open fields close to deciduous forest.[4][5]

Description

In flight

Xanthogramma pedissequum can reach a length of 10–13 millimetres (0.39–0.51 in) and a wing length of 7.25–9.75 mm.[6][4] These hoverflies have a black body, with two yellow lateral stripes on the thorax, and yellow markings on tergites two to five. The pairs of tergites 2 are wedge-shaped and considerably wide.[4][5]

Biology

Flight period last from mid May through September, with a peak at the end of June.[5] The adults feed on different flowers, for example, Ballota nigra, Potentilla erecta and Heracleum sphondylium.[6] Little is known of its larval stages. Larvae have been found underground in nests of the Black garden ant (Lasius niger) and Yellow meadow ant (Lasius flavus), probably to feed on ant-attended root aphids Forda formicaria and Trama species that they collect.[5][6][7][8]

References

1. Catalogue of life
2. Biolib
3. Fauba europea
4. Stuart Ball, Roger Morris Britain's Hoverflies: A Field Guide, Revised and Updated Second Edition
5. Nature Spot
6. J.K. Lindsey Commanster
7. Stubbs, Alan E. & Falk, Steven J. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide. British Entomological & Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp.
8. Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park - Diptera Survey Report 2007