Senaspis haemorrhoa, Gerstaecker, 1871

In the unlikely event that anyone follows the chronology of this little blog, and has just come from the dramatic yet poorly photographed Sterna hirundo image posted recently, this reasonably charismatic group should help ease you back into the invertebrates...

Onwards!

 - Eukaryota
   - Animalia
     - Eumetazoa
       - Bilateralia
         - Nephrozoa - see also Thelotornis capensis, Lygodactylus capensis, Chalcophaps indica, Sterna hirundo and Hipposideros vittatus.
           - Protostomia
             - Ecdysozoa
               - Arthropoda - see also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus and Hyllus argyrotoxus
                 - Hexapoda
                   - Insecta
                     - Dicondylia
                       - Pterygota
                         - Manopterygota - see also Pseudagrion hageni
                           - Neoptera - see also Sybilla, Stictogryllacris punctata and Cyathosternum prehensile.
                             - Eumetabola - see also Pephricus and Anoplocnemis curvipes
                               - Endopterygota - see also Hagenomyia tristis, Synagris proserpina, Melolontha melolontha, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Demetrias atricapillus and Anthia fornasinii
                                 - Panorpida - see also Zebronia phenice, Laelia robusta, Anthocharis cardamines and Acada biseriata
                                   - Antliophora see also Panorpa germanica
                                     - Diptera - see also Megistocera filipes
                                       - Brachycera
                                         - Muscomorpha - see also Diasemopsis meigenii
                                           - Aschiza
                                             - Syrphoidea
                                               - Syrphidae - see also Episyrphus balteatus
                                                 - Eristalinae
                                                   - Eristalini - see also Helophus pendulus
                                                     - Eristalina

Senaspis haemorrhoa

(Gerstaecker, 1871)

and here (below) it is:

This fuzzy little hoverfly is Afrotropical (specifically, in this one's case, Lusaka City, Lusaka Province, Zambia), and its colouring seems to be intended to mimic a handful of similar leaf-cutter bees. Although little is freely available about its natural history, as a member of the Eristalini, it presumably spends time as a rat-tailed maggot in standing water, grazing on bacteria and generally being unobtrusive, before turning into a reasonably important pollinator at metamorphosis. Although only photographed once, several similar-looking flies were seen within weeks of this photograph being taken.


It is, I hasten to note, harmless. It has neither sting nor mandibles, and its mouthparts are not adapted for piercing. As with other hoverflies, it also has no real interest in your lunch.



That's all, folks.

Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer, 1776)

So I've been generally avoiding posting ridiculously common and widespread species, on the basis that they're already all over the internet and you can see a thousand billion pictures of them (possibly an exaggeration) at the click of a button.

But as much as this insect is no Synagris proserpina (only female pictures on the web, only full colour pictures of (admittedly deceased) male, as far as I can tell) or Megistocera filipes filipes (only photographs of this subspecies on the web currently mine, including those featured on the Catalogue of Craneflies of the world), and by its cosmopolitan distribution, is quite un-exotic by anyone's standards,
this makes it worth it:

Next time, I'll use a full flash to escape that grainy background, but for now, I'm proud of myself.

Seeing as we've started with the photo, we may as well do the rest in reverse order:

Our un-mysterious guest today is the marmalade hoverflyotherwise known as

Episyrphus balteatus

(De Geer, 1776) 

                                                  Syrphini
                                                Syrphinae
                                              Syrphidae - previously featured: Helophilus pendulus
                                            Syrphoidea
                                          Aschiza
                                        Muscomorpha - previously featured: Diasemopsis meigenii
                                      Brachycera
                                    Diptera - previously featured: Megistocera filipes filipes,
                                  Antliophora - previously featured: Panorpa germanica
                                Panorpida - previously featured: Zebronia phenice, Anthocharis cardamines and Laelia cf robusta
                              Endopterygota - previously featured: Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Synagris proserpina nyassae, Hagenomyia tristis, Anthia fornasinii, Melolontha melolontha and Demetrias atricapillus
                            Eumetabola - previously featured: Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes,
                          Neoptera - previously featured: Sybilla, Cyathosternum prehensile,
                        Manopterygota - previously featured: Pseudagrion hageni,
                      Pterygota
                    Dicondylia
                  Insecta
                Hexapoda
              Arthropoda - previously featured: Enoplognatha ovata, Ligia oceanica and Dicranopalpus ramosus.
            Ecdysozoa
          Protostomia
        Nephrozoa - previously featured: Chalcophaps indica, Lygodactylus capensis, Thelotornis capensis oatesii and Hipposideros vittatus.
      Bilateralia
    Eumetazoa
  Animalia
Eukaryota

Note - 'previously featured' lists are links to other pages on this blog posted prior to this page, and species are listed at the most recent node that appears in their own taxonomy. It does not mean that the taxon no longer includes those species. Just in case it wasn't clear. 

One final tidbit, just so you have some idea of what this insect looks like beyond its massive eyes: 

Note 1: 

In the light of one of my recent visitors having found the blog by searching 'What does Episyrphus mean?' in Google (I believe), Syrphus in this instance refers to the common European hoverflies in the genus 'Syrphus', the original meaning of which is unknown to me, but I suspect Fabricius derived it from the latin for up (~sursum) and possibly the noun for "flight" (~fuga), or possibly the 'Phus' was just to be in keeping with existing names, creating a noun form. The 'Epi' means after, or in association with, as in 'Epilogue', and 'Epinephrine' (After-speech and Next-to-kidney, respectively). As such, Epiyrphus means Next to Syrphus, which itself means Up-flier. Probably. 

 

Helophilus pendulus (Linnaeus 1758)

I realise that there have been a lot of invertebrates lately... I'll interrupt this with a reptile or amphibian soon... but not today.

Onwards!

(Bear in mind that 'not a...' sections are incomplete, and intended as a rough guide to what an organism is not rather than a detailed map)
Eukaryota - not a bacteria (Prokaryota) or a member of the Archaea
  Animalia - not a plant, a fungus or a member of any of the various Protist groups
    Eumetazoa - not a sponge...
      Bilateralia - not a coral, jellyfish, etc (Radiata or Cnidaria)
       Nephrozoa - not an acoelomorph flatworm (Acoelomorpha), usually.
          Protostomia - not a vertebrate, sea-squirt, or echinoderm (all Deuterostomia)...
            Ecdysozoa - not a mollusc or any of various worms...
              Arthropoda - not a nematode worm either...
                Hexapoda - not a millipede (Myriapoda), Spider, Scorpion or horseshoe crab (Chelicerata) or Crustacean.
                  Insecta - not a springtail (Collembola)
                    Dicondylia - not a jumping bristletail (Archaeognatha)
                      Pterygota - not a bristletail or silverfish (Thysanura)
                        Manopterygota - not a mayfly or extinct relative (Palaeoptera)
                          Neoptera - not a dragonfly or damselfly (Odonata)
                            Eumetabola - not a cockroach, termite or mantis (Dictyoptera), cricket or grasshopper (Orthoptera), Earwig (Dermaptera) or stick insect (Phasmatodea).
                              Endopterygota - not a true bug (Hemiptera) or bark-louse (Psocoptera)
                                Panorpida - Not a beetle (Coleoptera), Wasp (Hymenoptera), Lacewing (Neuroptera), snakefly (Raphidioptera) or alderfly (Megaloptera).
                                  Antliophora - not a butterfly or moth (Lepidoptera) or Caddis-fly (Trichoptera).
                                    Diptera - not a scorpion fly (Mecoptera) or flea (Siphonaptera).
                                      Brachycera - not a crane-fly or mosquito (Nematocera)
                                        Muscomorpha - not a horse-fly (Tabanomorpha) or Robber-fly (Asilomorpha)
                                          Aschiza - not a house-fly, blow-fly, grass-fly, fruit-fly or various other Schizophora
                                            Syrphoidea - not a coffin-fly or relative (Platypezoidea)
                                              Syrphidae - not a 'big-headed fly' (Pipunculidae).
                                                Eristalinae... not a member of Syrphinae (most hoverflies) or Microdontinae (a small, atypical subfamily of hoverflies)
                                                  Eristalini...
                                                    Helophilina... not a member of the Eristalini, the drone-flies...
 

Helophilus pendulus

(Linnaeus 1758)

     

 

Known to some as 'The Footballer', apparently due to its boldly striped thorax. On that basis, I'd be tempted to call it 'The Ref' instead... but Helophilus (~Heh-loh-fill-us - literally 'bog-lover', due to its association with damp habitats) is easy enough to say, and avoids the complications inherent to 'I just saw a footballer in the pond'. 

Their bright colours seem to serve the purpose of convincing potential predators that they are dangerous, when, in fact, they are harmless (Read: no sting, no bite) pollinators with filter-feeding larvae. Of the several British species of Helophilus, this species is by far the most common.

That's all, folks.

(Identified by comparison of leg and abdomen colouring to images of known members of the genus with overlapping ranges. No specific site or reference employed).