lesser bulb fly

(Eumerus spp.)

Overview
lesser bulb fly (Eumerus sp.)
Photo by Alfredo Colon
 
 

Lesser bulb fly is a small to medium-sized hoverfly. It is native to Europe, Asia, North Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. It was been introduced into North and South America. Adults are found from April to September in dry grasslands, woodland edges, suburban gardens, anywhere their host species are found.

Larvae tunnel into plant bulbs, causing the bulbs to rot. The bulb either dies or produces stunted growth in the following growing season.

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Adults are 3 16 to ½ long. The face is flat and covered with downward pointing hairs. There are two large compound eyes and three very small simple eyes (ocelli). The compound eyes are covered with hairs. On the male the compound eyes meet at the top of the head, and most of the head is covered with hairs. On the female the compound eyes do not meet and the hairs are parted on the forehead. The antennae are very short. The thorax is black tinged with bronze, with a fringe of pale hairs. There are usually two, sometimes three, pale longitudinal stripes, conspicuous toward the front, fading toward the rear. The plate between the abdomen and thorax (scutellum) is large and convex. It is colored like the thorax and has a fringe of long yellow hairs. The abdomen is black with a pair of gray or silvery-white oblique spots on the second, third, and fourth segments. The wings are clear and are covered with fine hairs. The second cell on the leading edge of each wing toward the tip (pterostigma) is tinted brown. The legs do not have spurs. The third leg segment (femur) is thickened.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 29, 30.

 
  10/24/2018      
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Diptera (flies)  
 

Suborder

Brachycera  
 

Infraorder

Muscomorpha  
  No Rank Eremoneura  
  No Rank Cyclorrhapha  
  Zoosection Aschiza  
 

Superfamily

Syrphoidea  
 

Family

Syrphidae (hover flies)  
 

Subfamily

Eristalinae (drone flies and allies)  
 

Tribe

Eumerini  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

lesser bulb fly (Eumerus funeralis)

narcissus bulb fly (Eumerus narcissi)

onion bulb fly (Eumerus strigatus)

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

lesser bulb fly

 
       

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

 

Ocellus

Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.

 

Pterostigma

The dark, blood-filled second cell at the leading edge of each wing toward the tip on many insects. It is heaver than adjacent, similar sized areas and is thought to dampen wing vibrations and signal mates. (= stigma. More precise than stigma but less often used, even by entomologists.)

 

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Alfredo Colon

 
    lesser bulb fly (Eumerus sp.)      
           
 
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  Alfredo Colon
6/8/2018

Location: Woodbury, MN

lesser bulb fly (Eumerus sp.)  
           
 
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