Sphegina brachygaster

Sphegina brachygaster (Hull 1935), the Thick-waisted Pufftail , is a fairly common species of syrphid fly observed in the eastern United States. Hoverflies can remain nearly motionless in flight. The adults are also known as flower flies, for they are commonly found on flowers, from which they get both energy-giving nectar and protein-rich pollen. Larvae found in accumulations of decaying sap under bark, usually in wet situations such as damp, shaded woodland and in partially submerged wood in streams and pools.^[3][4][5]

Sphegina brachygaster
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Syrphidae
Subfamily:	Eristalinae
Tribe:	Brachyopini
Subtribe:	Spheginina
Genus:	Sphegina
Species:	S. brachygaster
Binomial name
Sphegina brachygaster Hull, 1935[1]
Synonyms
Sphegina brimleyi Shannon, 1940[2] Sphegina perplexa Hull, 1935[1]

References

1. Hull, F.M. (1935). "Descriptions of new species of the genus Sphegina with a key to those known from North America (Syrphidae: Diptera)". Transactions of the American Entomological Society. 61: 373–382, 1 pl.
2. Shannon, Raymond Corbett (1940). "Highland Syrphidae (Diptera) of North Carolina". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 42: 117–120. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
3. Rotheray, Graham (1998). "Phylogeny of Palaearctic Syrphidae (Diptera): evidence from larval stages". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 127: 1–112. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1999.tb01305.x.
4. Skevington, Jeffrey H (2019). Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America. ISBN 9780691189406.
5. Coovert, G. A (1977). "The Sphegina species of eastern North America". Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 90: 536–552.