| Criorhina ranunculi (Panzer, 1804) |
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Scientific name: Criorhina ranunculi (Panzer, 1804) Common name: French name: Order: Diptera Family: Syrphidae Wingspan : 14-17 mm Biotope: Woodland areas, especially with old trees. Geographic area: Europe, Asia east to Japan. Observation period : March to June. |
Criorhina ranunculi, with a dark and hairy body, is part of the hoverflies which mimic bumblebees. The head shape largely extends downwards. The forehead is black. The antennae are brown and not feathery on the opposite of Volucella bombylans. The abdomen, black to the third segment, shows a white, pale yellow or reddish yellow tip. The wings show a slightly brown central patch. Males' eyes almost touch, females' eyes are widely separated. The legs show yellow marks, they are completely black on Merodon equestris. The microphagous larva grow in rotten wood (Birch, Beech, …). Criorhina ranunculi is one of the earliest hoverfly to emerge in spring. You can observe it on Sallow catkins, on Cherry blossoms and Blackthorn blossoms. Males have an aggressive behaviour towards Bumblebees and other hoverflies by "headbutting" them. |
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A special thanks to Alain Ramel and Cyrille Dussaix for their help to identify this hoverfly. I was wondering about the dark stripe on the face. In fact this is one particularity on females. |
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The widely separated eyes confirm a female. This is one of the numerous visitors on Pyracanta blossoms in my garden. |
André Bon May 2010
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