Four-spotted aphid fly

Dioprosopa clavata

The Four-spotted Aphid Fly is the only species in the genus Dioprosopa in North America. This fly takes nectar from flowers and lays its eggs singly on vegetation near aphid colonies. This strategy gives the hatching larva an opportunity to find food immediately and begin feeding on aphids. This fly is an important biological agent controlling Brown Citrus Aphid in citrus growing areas of the US and Puerto Rico.
Four-spotted Aphid Flies Dioprosopa clavata,Four-spotted aphid fly,Geotagged,Summer,Trinidad and Tobago,black,hovering,large eyes,mating,white

Appearance

A small dark brown to black fly, approximately 1/2 inch in length. Both the male and female have an elongated abdomen. The female abdomen is thickened and pointed at the end. The wings are clear with dark brown leading edge. The legs are dark brown and yellow. There are 4 white spots, two on each side of the abdomen, giving the insect part of its name. The other part of the name comes from the larval food preference, aphids. The larva is a small, green slug-like creature approximately 1/4 inch long.

Size - body 6.5-12.4 mm, wing 4.9-8.8 mm

Similar to Baccha and Ocyptamus, but scutellum with yellow bands (vs. all black)
Four-Speckled Hover Fly (Dioprosopa clavata) A Four-Speckled Hover Fly I recently saw on the flowers of a Little Ironweed plant which grows along my fence line. The long, unkempt lawn was cut but with great care so as not to destroy the wildflowers, as they've consistently brought various insect and arachnid species in the region. Additionally, in the coming weeks I may be posting a bit less frequently (due to less field time), according to my schedule as I'll be trying to significantly increase my GPA. I'll still try to be on everyday voting on your amazing photos though! Animalia,Animals,Caribbean,Dioprosopa clavata,Four-Speckled Hover Fly,Four-spotted aphid fly,Insecta,Insects,Trinidad and Tobago

Naming

Synonym
Pseudodoros clavatus
Possible Four Speckled Hoverfly - Dioprosopa clavata Accidental capture of Hoverfly on Mealy blue sage. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/479803-Dioprosopa-clavata (not mine, but photo IDs of Dioprosopa clavata) https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=dioprosopa+clavata&search=Search Dioprosopa clavata,Fall,Four-spotted aphid fly,Geotagged,United States

Distribution

From so. US (north to VA-KS-NM-CA) to Chile & Argentina
Larvae of Four-spotted Aphid Fly -Dioprosopa clavata Anaheim USA,Dioprosopa clavata,Eamw hover fly,Four-spotted aphid fly,Geotagged,Summer,United States

Food

Larvae feed on aphids

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/14095
http://www.fnanaturesearch.org/index.php?option=com_naturesearch&task=view&id=1761
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderDiptera
FamilySyrphidae
GenusDioprosopa
SpeciesDioprosopa clavata
Photographed in
Trinidad and Tobago
United States of America