About Eristalis hirta Loew, 1866
Description: For terminology definitions, see Morphology of Diptera. Size: Body length ranges from 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in). Head: The frons is shiny black and covered with light brownish yellow pile. Females have an unusually broad face and frons. The facial pile is light brownish yellow, except for the facial stripe (tubercle) and cheeks, which are shiny black. Antennae are very dark brownish black. The arista is slightly plumose at its base. Eyes are only contiguous in males. Thorax: The thorax is dark, shiny brownish black with yellowish pile. The scutellum is lighter brownish and shiny. The pleurae are covered in pale yellow pile. Legs: Legs are patterned black and yellow. The front and middle femora are black with pale yellow apices; the bases and apices of the hind femora are yellow. The front and hind tibiae are black, with at least the basal half pale yellow; the middle tibia is mostly pale yellow. All tarsi are black, except the basitarsi of the middle legs, which are yellow. Abdomen: The abdomen is black with yellow bands and spots. The second abdominal segment has large, sharply defined yellow-orange spots on its sides, widely separated by opaque black in the middle. The light yellow posterior marginal bands on the second, third, and fourth segments are unusually prominent. The third and fourth segments are shiny black with yellow bands along their posterior edges. Wings: Wings are hyaline, or very faintly infuscated on the middle and anterior half. The pterostigma (pt) is small. Wing veination follows the pattern typical for the genus: spurious vein (sv) present, R4+5 loops into cell r4+5, and cell r2+3 is closed. Distribution: This species occurs in Western North America and Northern Europe, where it inhabits raised bogs, ditches, and temporary pools.
