Eristalis (Eristalis) tenax Linnaeus 1758
- Dataset
- Catalogue of the Syrphidae of Egypt (Diptera)
- Rank
- SPECIES
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Arthropoda
- class
- Insecta
- order
- Diptera
- family
- Syrphidae
- genus
- Eristalis
- species
- Eristalis tenax
description
Egyptian localities: Coastal Strip: Alexandria, Mariout. Eastern Desert: Ismailiya, Wadi Hoff, Wadi Rishrash. Fayoum: Fayoum City, Kom Osheem. Lower Nile Valley & Delta: Cairo, El-Gebel El-Asfar, El-Marg, Embaba, Ezbet El-Nakhl, Kombira, Shubra. Sinai: El-Arish. [Sources: Efflatoun 1922, Shaumar & Kamal 1978 and the examined museum material]. Activity period in Egypt: Throughout the year.
description
Musca apiformis Geoffroy, 1785: 488. Type locality: Sweden.
discussion
Remarks: E. tenax is the most widely distributed syrphid in Egypt (Efflatoun 1922). Adults fly up to 5 m from ground, spending a considerable amount of time resting on flowers and foliage, and in the evenings can be found sunning on the foliage of bushes and shrubs (Speight 2017). A wide range of flowers is visited by this species, including white, yellow, pink and blue blooms (De Buck, 1990). The rat-tailed larvae filter bacteria from water polluted by decaying organic matter, such as sewage treatment ponds (Aguilera et al. 1999).
materials_examined
Material examined: 1 male, Arish, 6. V. 1934, leg. Shafik; 1 female, Ismailia, 7. IV. 1926, leg. Tewfik; 1 female, Wadi Rishrash, 21. VI. 1932, leg. Tewfik; [EFC]. World distribution: Cosmopolitan, known from all regions except the Antarctic.