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).