Posted by Paul Hoekstra on 09-11-2024 11:46
#1
My son reared 2 Syrphid larvae, one male Meliscaeva cinctella and 1 female Meliscaeva auricollis, but both were in the same jar. Does anyone know which pupa belongs to which Syrphid? Or is there any literature on pupae of Syrphids?
Posted by eklans on 10-11-2024 15:16
#2
Hi Paul, I do not know literature on the pupal state of syrphids - for the larvae I use Graham E. Rotheray (1993): Colour Guide to Hoverfly Larvae.
He says
M. auricollis larva's prp (the posterior breathing tubes) has a basal rim while
M. cinctella's is yellowish brown in overall colour.
Your darker larva is not unicoloured and seems to have a basal rim so I
guess this could be
M. auricollis.