Scaeva (Scaeva) pyrastri ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

El-Hawagry, Magdi S. & Gilbert, Francis, 2019, Catalogue of the Syrphidae of Egypt (Diptera), Zootaxa 4577 (2), pp. 201-248 : 211

Scaeva (Scaeva) pyrastri ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Musca pyrastri Linnaeus, 1758: 594 . Type locality: Sweden (Svecia).

Musca rosae De Geer, 1776: 108. Unjustified new name for Musca pyrastri Linnaeus.

Musca mellina Harris, 1780: 30. Type locality: England.

Scaeva corrusca Gravenhorst, 1807: 375 . Type locality: Germany (not given).

Scaeva affinis Say, 1823: 93 . Type locality: USA (Arkansas).

Scaeva unicolor Curtis, 1834: 509 . Type locality: Great Britain ( England: the neighborhood of London).

Syrphus pyrastri var. flavoscutellatus Girschner, 1884: 197 . Type locality: Germany (Thüringen).

World distribution: NE: Canada, USA. OR: India, Pakistan. PA: Afghanistan, Algeria, Canary Is., China, Egypt, Europe (widespread), Madeira, Mongolia.

Egyptian localities: Eastern Desert: Wadi Rishrash [ Shaumar & Kamal (1978)].

Activity period in Egypt: March.

Remarks: This is a highly mobile species, usually exploiting concentrations of aphids wherever it finds them. Adults are fast fliers, usually within 3m of the ground; they are frequently encountered flying around bushes and shrubs in a slow and purposeful manner, only to speed away after 30 seconds or so. It is to a significant extent anthropophilic, occurring in arable crops, hedgerows, orchards, gardens and conifer plantations. In Europe, it has been recorded visiting an extensive list of flowers, especially the Umbelliferae ( De Buck 1990; Speight 2017). In Egypt the larvae were seen feeding ravenously on aphids ( Efflatoun 1922).