Syritta flaviventris Macquart, 1842

El-Hawagry, Magdi S. & Gilbert, Francis, 2019, Catalogue of the Syrphidae of Egypt (Diptera), Zootaxa 4577 (2), pp. 201-248 : 224-225

Syritta flaviventris Macquart, 1842

Syritta flaviventris Macquart, 1842: 135 . Type locality: Senegal.

Syritta nigricornis Macquart, 1842: 134 . Type locality: Egypt.

Syritta spinigera Loew, 1848b: 331 . Type localities: Greece, Italy (Sicily) & Turkey.

Syritta albifacies Bigot, 1859: 439 . Type locality: Madagascar.

Syritta aculeipes Schiner, 1868: 367 . Type locality: South Africa (Cap).

Syritta spinigerella Thomson, 1869: 502 . Type locality: St. Helena.

Syritta armipes Thomson, 1869: 503 . Type locality: South Africa (Cap).

Material examined: 1 female, Ein Gedeirat, 13–22.IV.1938, leg. Shafik; 1male, Faraskure, 7.VII.1926, leg. Tewfik; 2 females, Fayoum, 30.IV.1943, leg. Shafik; 1 female, Geneiva, 12.X.1926, leg. Tewfik; 2 males, Helwan, 5.IX.1935, leg. Farag [EFC].

World distribution: AF: Cape Verde Is., Eastern parts of the Afrotropical Region to the southern tip of Africa, Madagascar, Mascarene Is., Mauritius, Reunion, Senegal, St. Helena, South Africa. NE: Mexico, USA (Texas). NT: Argentina, Brazil and Chile. PA: Corsica, Crete, Egypt, Europe ( Portugal, Spain and round the Mediterranean from the southern coast of France to Turkey), Greece, Iran, Lebanon, Sardinia, Sicily, Syria.

Egyptian localities: It is a very common species, distributed in all Egyptian ecological zones [Sources: Shaumar & Kamal (1978) and the examined museum material].

Activity period in Egypt: Throughout the year.

Remarks: Adults fly low among sparse vegetation beside water, settling on stones or dried mud. They usually visit yellow composites ( Speight 2017). It seems very strange that the extremely common and widespread species Syritta pipiens (L.) has been recorded from every North African country except Egypt.