Common Oblique Syrphid

bugman

September 4th, 2010 at 7:39 pm

Categories

Toxomerus marginatus
Location: Hawthorne, California
September 4, 2010 3:42 pm
Hi Bugman,
I think I have this fly properly identified. Can you confirm it as being a Syrphid fly – Toxomerus marginatus?
Signature: Thanks, Anna

Common Oblique Syrphid

Hi Anna,
This is a Syrphid Fly in the family Syrphidae, also known as a Flower Fly or Hover Fly, but we do not believe it is Toxomerus marginatus. We applaud you for attempting to self identify your Flower Fly, and the reason your letter caught our attention is that you used a scientific name in the subject line of your email, and it was a name we did not recognize. We do believe you have correctly identified the subfamily Syrphinae which is the same subfamily that includes the Common Oblique Syrphid Fly, Allograpta obliqua, which we believe looks like a closer match to the markings on your individual. If you compare images of Toxomerus marginatus on BugGuide with images of Allograpta obliqua on BugGuide, we think you will agree with our correction. This image on BugGuide shows the markings quite clearly. Syrphidae is a large and confusing family with many members that look remarkably alike, so we want to say again that we commend your efforts at self identification because we know how much time it can take to sort through the countless images posted to BugGuide.
P.S. In formatting the images for this posting, we realized that you have submitted other Syrphid Flies to us in the past, including a Eristalinus taeniops in January and a possible Copestylum marginatum in June. Your photos are excellent, so please keep sending us images of Syrphid Flies or other bugs that you might find that would interest our readers.