Random Notes on Hoverfly Identification

Sphaerophoria in Eastern North America

Males with incomplete thorax stripe:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7413714

Females with incomplete thorax stripe:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/15572261

Males with full thorax stripe (I think only S. philanthus identifiable):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/15576830

Females with full thorax stripe (I think only S. bifurcata identifiable):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7452079

Good resource:
Vockeroth 1992 Syrphinae of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland: http://esc-sec.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/AAFC_insects_and_arachnids_part_18.pdf

Western female with incomplete stripe: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/34249225

Separating similar yellow-banded Syrphini

Eupeodes subgenus Metasyrphus, Syrphus, Epistrophe, others (Didea, Meliscaeva)

It's hard

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8593944
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8594111

Eupeodes latifasciatus on the east coast is an exception not always having black margins (https://bugguide.net/node/view/1021534/bgimage), and Syrphus opinator on the west coast is an exception having black margins (https://bugguide.net/node/view/268265/bgimage)
https://bugguide.net/node/view/99829/bgimage

If for some crazy reason you want to just look at the difficult ones here's a project for you: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/tricky-syrphini-from-north-america

Epistrophella
https://bugguide.net/node/view/852268/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/872187/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/832923/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/849752/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1274968/bgimage

Parasyrphus
https://bugguide.net/node/view/954145/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/776694/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1618772/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/882710/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1185190/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1579935/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1658999/bgimage

Some things from BugGuide comments on Epistrophe:
Yellow spots at base of abdomen widen toward margin (always narrow toward margin in Syrphus maybe?)
Edges of yellow bands on abdomen straight rather than curving (except usually a black point in the centre of the first band)
Edges of abdomen very fuzzy
Yellow on abdomen dull/mottled rather than bright yellow (also there is a "dark morph" with grey/brown bands)
https://bugguide.net/node/view/573350/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/153678/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/330766/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1406410/bgimage
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/10701332
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1740346/bgimage

E. metcalfi

Very rare; no specimens collected since 1948

E. grossulariae

Black antennae
Wide straight yellow bands
Black triangle on frons
Syrphus knabi has dark antennae and can have wide straight bands, but doesn't have the black triangle to the same extent, (female) leg colouration also different
https://bugguide.net/node/view/330766/bgimage

E. nitidicollis

Yellow antennae
Black coxae

E. xanthostoma

Yellow antennae
Yellow coxae
Deeper black pointing into the yellow bands?

E. terminalis

Yellow antennae

Identifying Syrphus

https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/upupa-epops/27969-identifying-syrphus-hover-flies

Eupeodes subgenus Metasyrphus
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1047917/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1289558/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1718107/bgimage

E. flukei
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1311869/bgpage

E. snowi
https://bugguide.net/node/view/381686/bgimage

E. latifasciatus

Yellow T5?
https://bugguide.net/node/view/219327/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1245201/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1447146/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1502572/bgimage

E. fumipennis
https://bugguide.net/node/view/670978/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1698014/bgimage

Scaeva vs Eupeodes subgenus Eupeodes

These have very similar abdomen patterns. Are they separated by head shape?

E. volucris
https://bugguide.net/node/view/35305/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/94855/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/338812/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/160500/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/169720/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/195639/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/476113/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/232255/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/100232/bgimage

S. pyrastri (now S. affinis I think?)
https://bugguide.net/node/view/77662/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/17657/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/268366/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/283443/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1738233/bgimage
Probably I can go through these links later and weed out some redundant ones...

Lapposyrphus, Dasysyrphus also similar.

Lapposyrphus
https://bugguide.net/node/view/165692
https://bugguide.net/node/view/20033/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/161960/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/310633/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/381930/bgimage

Allograpta

Allograpta in North America

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/8490526

Melanistic: https://bugguide.net/node/view/977116/bgpage

Neotropical Allograpta

http://syrphidae.inpa.gov.br/

List of Neotropical species of each subgenus and locations from Mengual et al.:
A. obliqua group
aeruginosifrons (Brazil)
annulipes (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021657
aperta (Surinam, Guyana) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021897
bilineella (Colombia)
browni (Ecuador) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021656
exotica (central US south to Argentina)
falcata (Colombia, Venezuela) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10020869
hastata (Peru, Brazil) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10020870
hortensis (Peru, Chile, Argentina)
insularis (Puerto Rico)
limbata (West Indies, Brazil) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10023451
neotropica (Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina) - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18423390, https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021326
obliqua (Canada south to Argentina)
piurana (Peru, Chile)
pulchra (Chile, Easter Island)
radiata (Florida, West Indies)
robinsoniana (Juan Fernandez Island)
splendens (Galapagos)
tectiforma (Ecuador) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021658
teligera (Ecuador, Brazil) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10020871
trilimbata (Mexico) - description in Latin https://archive.org/details/diptresnouveau00bigot/page/134/mode/2up

Fazia group
micrura (BC to Texas, Mexico)
alta (Colombia, Ecuador) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021324
altissima (Ecuador)
argentipila (Ecuador, Peru, Argentina)
centropogonis (Costa Rica) - http://syrphidae.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/225/media
colombia (Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina) - http://syrphidae.inpa.gov.br/index.php/generos/syrphi?id=69, http://syrphidae.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/856/media, https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021325
decemmaculata (Chile, Ecuador)
eupeltata (Mexico) - description in Italian https://archive.org/details/ditteridelmessic00gigl/page/n109/mode/2up
fasciata (Ecuador, Peru) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10022467
fascifrons (Colombia, Ecuador)
flukei (Cuba) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021433
funeralia (Jamaica) - https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/guid/MCZ:Ent:23787
hians (Mexico) - https://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=199627
imitator (Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia)
luna (Ecuador)
macquarti (Chile, Argentina)
mu (Mexico)
nasigera (Colombia)
plaumanni (Brazil)
remigis (Ecuador)
roburoris (Ecuador, Argentina)
rostrata (Mexico) - https://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=199624
saussurii (Mexico) - similar to eupeltata but significantly smaller
similis (Colombia, Brazil, Argentina) - https://sci-web-001.amnh.org/imulive/iz.html?#details=ecatalogue.10021327
strigifacies (Brazil) - http://syrphidae.inpa.gov.br/index.php/generos/syrphi?id=69
syrphica (Mexico) - https://archive.org/details/ditteridelmessic00gigl/page/n161/mode/2up
willistoni (Mexico) - https://archive.org/details/ditteridelmessic00gigl/page/n161/mode/2up

Mengual, Ruiz, Rojo, Stahls, & Thompson. A conspectus of the flower fly genus Allograpta (Diptera: Syrphidae) with description of a new subgenus and species. 2009. https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/16774/ent_FCT_124.pdf

https://everything.explained.today/Allograpta/
https://www.secret-bases.co.uk/wiki/Allograpta
http://beta.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxon=allograpta&searchTax=
http://syrphidae.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/200/media
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/taxonomy?taxon_key=1540899

https://research.amnh.org/iz/types_db/list_types.php?phylum_name=&class_name=&taxon_order_name=&family_name=&genus_name=allograpta&species_name=&author_name=
http://syrphidae.inpa.gov.br/index.php/generos/syrphi?id=62

Allograpta (Fazia) colombia
http://syrphidae.inpa.gov.br/index.php/generos/syrphi?id=69
http://syrphidae.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/856

Fluke, 1942. http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/2279 / http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/2279//v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/nov/N1201.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Checklist of Syrphidae of Ecuador https://www.zfmk.de/dateien/dokumente/2017_ecuador_checklist_0.pdf