Insects › Hover Flies
Golden Plushback
Palpada mexicana
25 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
Western Honey BeeApis mellifera
Common Drone FlyEristalis tenax
Northern PlushbackPalpada vinetorum
Yellow-shouldered Drone FlyEristalis stipator
Stripe-eyed Lagoon FlyEristalinus taeniops
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 650 |
|---|---|
| California | 521 |
| Mexico | 158 |
| Texas | 81 |
| Sinaloa | 49 |
| Arizona | 41 |
| Nuevo Leon | 26 |
| Chihuahua | 16 |
| Costa Rica | 16 |
| Nevada | 12 |
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 | Plushback Flies · Palpada |
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 Golden Plushback with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.