black hoverfly likely Platycheirus sp.

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comments (6)

Christine Young

Lion

My search led me to Platycheirus sp., such as these:

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1043258-Platycheirus-trichopus/browse_photos
https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/19258306

What do you think? Posted 4 years ago
1. morpheme
  
  Lion
  
  hmmm... I'm thinking Pipiza is probably not right- they are dark, but it seems like they don't fold their wings in onto one another... but are any of the Platycheirus that black? I'm going to have to look at my other photos and see if I have a side on view of the abdomen to see if I can get the true color without looking through the wing so much. Posted 4 years ago, modified 4 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    I'm not sure about any Platycheirus being truly black. The above two links showed the closest that I could find. Melanostoma sp. is also similar, but I don't see any that are as dark as yours. Posted 4 years ago
  2. 1. morpheme
      
      Lion
      
      I just discovered something interesting.... syrphids can have melanistic individuals. I may need to expand my search away from just dark individuals. Posted 4 years ago
    2. morpheme
      
      Lion
      
      Ha - I think I found a Platycheirus on BugGuide that is very similar, but unclassified to a species :p
      https://bugguide.net/node/view/1965541/bgimage Posted 4 years ago, modified 4 years ago
    3. 1. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Wow! First, how cool about melanistic syrphids?! That would be an awesome find. Second, that fly definitely looks like yours! The ID seems solid to me. Great work! Posted 4 years ago