Eristalis

Eristalis
Common drone fly (Eristalis tenax) on the flowers of a common lantana (Lantana camara)
A map showing the global distribution of Eristalis species, where darker red hexagons mean there's a higher abundance of observations
Global distribution of Eristalis species observations produced from GBIF observations
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Subfamily: Eristalinae
Tribe: Eristalini
Subtribe: Eristalina
Genus: Eristalis
Latreille, 1804
Type species
Musca tenax
Subgenera
  • Eoseristalis Kanervo, 1938
  • Eristalis Latreille, 1804
Synonyms[1]
  • Elophilus Meigen, 1803,
  • Eristaloides Rondani, 1845
  • Eristalomya Rondani, 1857
  • Eristalomyia Verrall, 1882
  • Helophilus Leach, 1817
  • Tubifera Meigen, 1800
European drone fly (Eristalis arbustorum) on a leaf
Black-shouldered drone fly (Eristalis dimidiata) female

Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. Several species are known as drone flies (or droneflies) because they bear a resemblance to honeybee drones.

Drone flies and their relatives are fairly common generalist pollinators,[2] the larvae of which are aquatic, and breathe through a long, snorkel-like appendage, hence the common name rat-tailed maggots.[1][3]

Eristalis is a large genus of around 99 species,[4] and is subdivided into several subgenera and species groups (Eristalomyia, Eristalis, Eoseristalis etc.).

  1. ^ a b Stubbs, Alan E.; Falk, Steven J (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide (2nd ed.). London: British Entomological and Natural History Society. pp. 253, xvpp. ISBN 1-899935-03-7.
  2. ^ Van Der Kooi, C. J.; Pen, I.; Staal, M.; Stavenga, D. G.; Elzenga, J. T. M. (2015). "Competition for pollinators and intra-communal spectral dissimilarity of flowers". Plant Biology. 18 (1): 56–62. doi:10.1111/plb.12328. PMID 25754608.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thompson97 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Thompson, F. Christian (2003). "Austalis, a new genus of flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) with revisionary notes on related genera" (pdf Adobe/Acobat). Zootaxa. 246. New Zealand: Magnolia Press: 1–19. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.246.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334. Retrieved 2011-01-28.