Insects › Hover Flies
Variable Duskyface Fly
Melanostoma mellinum
28 photos
Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.
Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.
Easily confused with
Ladder-backed Hover FlyMelanostoma scalare
Margined CalligrapherToxomerus marginatus
Marmalade Hover FlyEpisyrphus balteatus
Spotted ThintailMeliscaeva auricollis
Grey-spotted SedgesitterPlatycheirus albimanus
Thick-legged Hover FlySyritta pipiens
Western Forest SedgesitterPlatycheirus trichopus
Banded ThintailMeliscaeva cinctella
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| British Columbia | 1,282 |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 655 |
| England | 583 |
| California | 341 |
| Washington | 328 |
| Germany | 298 |
| Oregon | 294 |
| Alaska | 153 |
| France | 142 |
| Ontario | 137 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Physical
- ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification
Group and habits
- Animal pollinatorDescends from an animal lineage whose members commonly pollinate flowers.Inferred from its group
Classification
| Kingdom | Animals · Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropods · Arthropoda |
| Class | Insects · Insecta |
| Order | Flies · Diptera |
| Family | Hover Flies · Syrphidae |
| Genus | Melanostoma |
Sources
- Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
- Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
- How much to rely on each source
Remember the name next time.
Practise Variable Duskyface Fly with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.