About Meliscaeva cinctella (Zetterstedt, 1843)
Meliscaeva cinctella (Zetterstedt, 1843) has a wing length of 7-9.75 mm and an elongated body. The lunula is black, with a black mark above it. The face is entirely yellow. The alula is narrow and rectangular. Tergite 2 has broad, square yellow marks. Tergites 3 and 4 have broad yellow bands that extend to the abdominal margin, with small points where one points forwards and the other backwards. Male genitalia of this species were figured by Hippa (1968), the larva was described and figured by Rotheray (1994), and references can be consulted for species determination. Its distribution covers the Palearctic realm, ranging from Fennoscandia south to Iberia and the Mediterranean basin, from Ireland east through most of Europe, Turkey, and European Russia, and continuing east through Siberia and the Russian Far East to the Pacific coast of the Kuril Isles. It is also found in the Nearctic realm, from Alaska south to California and Colorado.
