Eristalinus (Eristalodes) taeniops ( Wiedemann, 1818 )

El-Hawagry, Magdi S. & Gilbert, Francis, 2019, Catalogue of the Syrphidae of Egypt (Diptera), Zootaxa 4577 (2), pp. 201-248 : 219-220

Eristalinus (Eristalodes) taeniops ( Wiedemann, 1818)

Eristalis taeniops Wiedemann, 1818: 42 . Type locality: South Africa (Cape).

Helophilus pulchriceps Wiedemann in Meigen, 1822 . Type locality: Portugal.

Eristalis torridus Walker, 1849: 612 . Type locality: Unknown.

Eristalis secretus Walker, 1849: 620 . Type locality: Unknown.

Eristalis aegyptius Walker, 1849: 621 . Type locality: Egypt.

Eristalis communis Adams, 1905: 162 . Type locality: Zimbabwe [as Rhodesia] (Harare) .

Eristalis concinna Abréu, 1924: 109 . Type locality: Canary Is. (La Palma).

Eristalis completa Abréu, 1924: 110 (as var. of taeniops ). Type locality: Canary Is. (La Palma).

Material examined: 1 male, 2 females, Wadi Digla , 5.VIII.2001, leg. El-Hawagry ; 2 females, Kom Osheem , 2.III.1999, leg. El-Hawagry ; 1 male, Abu-Ghalib , 7. VI.2 0 17, leg. El-Hawagry [in personal collection of El- Hawagry].

World distribution: AF: Eastern parts of the Afrotropical Region down to South Africa, UAE, Yemen. NE: USA (California to Florida). OR: India, Nepal, Pakistan. PA: Afghanistan, Canary Is., China, Egypt, Europe ( Portugal, Spain and round the Mediterranean basin (southern France including Corsica, Italy including Sardinia and Sicily, parts of the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania, Cyprus, Greece (including Crete and Rhodes), Turkey), Lebanon, Iran, Israel, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transcaucasia, Tunisia.

Egyptian localities: Widespread in Egypt [Sources: Efflatoun (1922), Shaumar & Kamal (1978) and the examined material collected by the first author].

Activity period in Egypt: Throughout the year.

Remarks: E. taeniops is one of the commonest and largest of the Egyptian Syrphidae ( Efflatoun 1922) . Adults come to the edges of small streams to drink during hot weather. They usually visit flowers of Eryngium , Euphorbia, Hedera , Mentha, Rubus , Senecio and Solidago ( Marcos-García 1985; Speight 2017). The rat-tailed larvae feed in water polluted by decaying organic matter, such as sewage treatment ponds ( Mahmoud et al. 1999).