Chrysogaster solstitialis

Description

Chrysogaster solstitialis is a European species of hoverfly. External images For terms see Morphology of Diptera Wing length 6-7·25 mm. Antennae reddish. In front view the distance between the eyes at most equal to the width of an eye. Wings blackish-tinged. Female thorax with purplish reflections. The male genitalia are figured by Maibach, A. & Goeldlin de Tiefenau (1994). The larva is illustrated by Rotheray (1993). Palaearctic. Ranges from Fennoscandia South to Iberia and the Mediterranean basin, including North Africa. From Ireland Eastwards through of Europe into European parts of Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus mountains. Wetland and deciduous forest, woodland streams and ponds including Salix carr. Flowers visited include white umbellifers, Cornus, Filipendula, Galium, Sambucus, Senecio jacobaea. The flight period is June to September (May in southern Europe). The larvae live in pond mud containing debris of fallen twigs and branches. Chrysogaster is a genus of small hoverflies in the subfamily Eristalinae. They are dark or black with shiny colourful reflections and can often be seen visiting flowers in damp marshy areas where the aquatic larvae live. Species in the related genera Melanogaster, Orthonevra, Lejogaster and Riponnensia were formerly treated as members of Chrysogaster.