Grove hover fly

Grove hover fly
Grove hover fly ( Episyrphus balteatus ), male
Systematics
Order : Fly (Diptera) Subordination : Flies (Brachycera) Partial order : Lid slip (Cyclorrhapha) Family : Hoverflies (Syrphidae) Genre : Episyrphus Type : Grove hover fly
Scientific name
Episyrphus balteatus
( De Geer , 1776)

female

Close up of a male's head

Play media file

Grove hover fly on forest honeysuckle

larva

Doll

The grove hover fly ( Episyrphus balteatus ), also known as the wandering or winter hover fly , is a species of the family of the hover flies (Syrphidae). In 2004 she was voted Insect of the Year in Germany.

features

The flies have a body length of 7 to 12 millimeters and have a somewhat elongated and slender body. The face is yellow, the forehead is gray, with a darker gray dust over the brown antennae. The dark greenish shimmering mesonotum has three light gray longitudinal lines. On the abdomen there are two yellow spots on the second segment, on the third and fourth segments there are wide, black rear margins and in the middle narrow, centrally notched black lines. This "mustache-like" drawing on the abdomen makes it easy to distinguish the species from other hoverfly species. The lateral edges of the abdomen are turned down at the sides and cannot be seen from above. The compound eyes of the females are narrowly separated.

The Bates' mimicry to the wasp is particularly striking .

Occurrence and habitat

The kind is common in Europe, Asia and North America. It is one of the most common hoverfly species in Central Europe and can be seen in many different habitats. The flight time is from March to October. Mated females can hibernate and can therefore sometimes be seen on warm winter days. Most of the animals, especially the females of the migratory species, however, fly over the Alps or the Pyrenees to the south.

Way of life

The adults are strong flower visitors and can be found on almost all flowers. There are often up to 10 individuals on individual umbel inflorescences. The larvae predatory feed on aphids and, especially when the former is scarce, also on sawfly larvae . The mated hoverflies overwinter.

The migratory behavior of the hover fly

Episyrphus balteatus is a migratory insect and conducts directed seasonal migrations. In autumn, these lead from Central Europe to the south and southwest into the Mediterranean region. The grove hover fly crosses the passes of the low mountain ranges, the Pyrenees and the Alps. In the spring, the train is in the opposite direction. The grove hover fly pulls using favorable and avoiding unfavorable winds. It shows a behavior similar to that of migrating butterflies and birds. The migration of the hover fly to the south takes place at low altitudes - and therefore visible to the eye - only when there is a headwind and when the mountain is climbing. As a result, the hoverflies seek to fly under unfavorable air currents. With tail winds, the hover fly moves at great heights over the German low mountain range. Above the Swabian Alb, for example, a strong hover fly migration was detected with special optics at altitudes of 1000–1400 meters above ground (up to 2000 meters above sea level). Birds were also observed up to great heights to hunt hoverflies migrating there. At the Randecker Maar research station on the Swabian Alb, the migrations of hover flies (including the hover fly) have been documented since 1970 and the animals are recorded, determined and counted with the help of fish traps. In the past few years, a sharp decline in the number of animals recorded was noted. The researchers attribute this to the use of toxins in agriculture.

supporting documents

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Grove Hover Fly. www.insektenbox.de, accessed on February 11, 2017 .  
2. ^ W. Gatter, U. Schmid: The migration of hover flies (Diptera, Syrphidae) on the Randecker Maar. Festschrift 20 years of Randecker Maar station. In: Spixiana. Suppl. 15, 1990, p. 22.
3. ↑ W. Gatter: The forms of migration of insects. In :: Ent. Magazine. Volume 91, 1981, pp. 1-16.
4. ^ W. Gatter: Insect migration. News about the migration behavior of insects. About the prerequisites of the west Palaearctic migration system. Kilda Verlag, Greven 1981, p. 61.
5. ^ W. Gatter, U. Schmid: The migration of hover flies (Diptera, Syrphidae) on the Randecker Maar. Festschrift 20 years of Randecker Maar station. In: Spixiana. Suppl. 15, 1990, p. 76.
6. ↑ W. gate: plan observations of visible train at the edge Ecker Maar example ornithological-entomological research. In: Vogelwelt. Volume 99, 1978, pp. 1-21.
7. ↑ W. Gatter: Adaptations of migrating insects to the daily rotation of the wind. In: Jh. Ges. Naturkde. Württbg. Volume 136, 1981, pp. 191-202.
8. ^ W. Gatter: Insect migration. News about the migration behavior of insects. About the prerequisites of the west Palaearctic migration system. Kilda Verlag, Greven 1981, pp. 51 and 53.
9. ^ W. Gatter, U. Schmid: The migration of hover flies (Diptera, Syrphidae) on the Randecker Maar. Festschrift 20 years of Randecker Maar station. In: Spixiana. Suppl. 15, 1990, p. 94.
10. ^ W. Gatter, U. Schmid: The migration of hover flies (Diptera, Syrphidae) on the Randecker Maar. Festschrift 20 years of Randecker Maar station. In: Spixiana. Suppl. 15 1990, pp. 11, 12, 14.
11. ^ W. Gatter, D. Gatter: The migration of hover flies after scheduled catches on the Randecker Maar (Swabian Alb) (Diptera, Syrphidae). In: Atalanta. Volume 7, 1976, pp. 4-18.
12. ↑ U. Schmid, W. Gatter: The occurrence of hover flies on the Randecker Maar - a faunistic overview (Diptera, Syrphidae). In: Nachr. Bayer. Ent. Volume 37, 1988, pp. 117-127.
13. ↑ The butterflies no longer fly. In: Stuttgarter Zeitung. Sept. 14, 2017.
14. ↑ randecker-maar.de

Web links

• Nature in NRW
• Episyrphus balteatus at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved January 26, 2015
• Hoverflies migration on the Randecker Maar

literature

• W. Gatter, D. Gatter: The migration of hover flies after scheduled catches on Randecker Maar (Swabian Alb) (Diptera, Syrphidae). In: Atalanta. Volume 7, 1976, pp. 4-18.
• W. Gatter: Adaptations of wandering insects to the daily change of the wind. In: Jh. Ges. Naturkde. Württbg. Volume 136, 1981, pp. 191-202.
• W. Gatter: Insect migrations. News about the migration behavior of insects. About the prerequisites of the west Palaearctic migration system. Kilda Verlag, Greven 1981. (randecker-maar.de)
• U. Schmid, W. Gatter: The occurrence of hover flies on the Randecker Maar - a faunistic overview (Diptera, Syrphidae). In: Nachr. Bayer. Ent. Volume 37, 1988, pp. 117-127.
• W. Gatter, U. Schmid: The migration of hover flies (Diptera, Syrphidae) on the Randecker Maar. Festschrift 20 years of Randecker Maar station. In: Spixiana. Suppl. 15, 1990. (randecker-maar.de)
• Gerald Bothe: Hoverflies. German Youth Association for Nature Observation, Hamburg 1996.
• Joachim and Hiroko Haupt: Flies and mosquitoes: observation, way of life. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-278-4 .
• Kurt Kormann: Hover flies and bubble-head flies of Central Europe. Fauna Verlag, Nottuln 2003, ISBN 3-935980-29-9 .

Further web links

Commons : Hainschwebfliege ( Episyrphus balteatus )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Video: Hoverfly Ecology Episyrphus balteatus . Institute for Scientific Film (IWF) 2000, made available by the Technical Information Library (TIB), doi : 10.3203 / IWF / C-7011 .
• Video: Prey catching behavior and eating of the larvae of Episyrphus balteatus (Syrphidae) . Institute for Scientific Film (IWF) 1989, made available by the Technical Information Library (TIB), doi : 10.3203 / IWF / C-1702 .
• Video: Syrphus balteatus (Syrphidae) - larvae catching prey . Institute for Scientific Film (IWF) 1986, made available by the Technical Information Library (TIB), doi : 10.3203 / IWF / E-2936 .