Merodon planifacies (Diptera: Syrphidae: Eristalinae: Merodontini: Merodon: desuturinus lineage: melanocerus group: planifacies subgroup)
The 15 members of this species subgroup can be identified with the key and descriptions in:
Ante Vujić, Mihajla Djan, Snežana Radenković, Laura Likov, Jelena Ačanski, Dušanka Vujanović, Nevena Veličković, Celeste Pérez-Bañón, Santos Rojo, Andrea Aracil, Kurt Jordaens, Gunilla Ståhls 2024. A window on remarkable cryptic diversity of the Merodon planifacies subgroup (Diptera: Syrphidae) in the Afrotropical Region, Journal of Insect Science, Volume 24, Issue 5. https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieae091
https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/24/5/4/7816044
Medium-sized species (12 mm).
Male: face flat; oral margin not protruded; face pollinose, medial bare vitta about 1/4 of head width; pedicel not elongated; basoflagellomere short, about 1.7–1.8 times as long as wide; fossette medium-sized; eye contiguity short, about 8 ommatidia long; ocellar triangle isosceles; postpronotum and postalar callus reddish-brown; metatibia without distinct apical spina; metafemur moderate incrassate, ca. 5 times longer than wide; tarsi red-yellow, except 2 brown apical segments
(From Vujic et al 2024)
Original description in:
Bezzi, M. 1915. The Syrphidae of the Ethiopian Region based on material in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History), with descriptions of new genera and species. British Museum (Natural History), London
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/41186#page/108/mode/1up
Merodon planifacies, sp. n. [male]
Length of the body 10 mm.
Head black, densely clothed with grey hair, the vertical triangle alone being shining and the hairs around ocelli dark; eyes touching for a considerable distance, covered with whitish hair, which is dark on the upper part; frontal triangle not very prominent, densely clothed with whitish hair; face very short and entirely flat, a little retreating, not prominent at the buccal cavity, distinctly shorter than the eyes; antennae short, reddish, the third joint rectangular and of a pale yellowish colour; arista bare, yellowish; opening of the buccal cavity very small; proboscis short and concealed. Dorsum of thorax clothed with dense and rather long grey hair; it is of a shining aeneous colour, and has three broad purplish-black bands, the middle one being abbreviated behind and divided by a thin aeneous line, while the lateral ones are abbreviated in front and almost interrupted towards the suture; pleurae shining aeneous, with grey hair; scutellum entirely blackish aeneous, pale-haired. Squamule lurid, with a yellowish fringe.
Abdomen broad and rounded at the apex, not conical; it is shining dark tawny with some bluish
reflexions; first segment very small and blackish; second with a narrow black fore border, not reaching the sides, an obsolete median black band and two orange lateral spots, forming an interrupted band; third and fourth with a transverse yellowish pellucid median band, interrupted towards the middle, that of the third paler, the hair is whitish, pure white on the transverse bands, but that on the orange spots is orange; genitalia large and rounded, but not prominent, black; venter reddish yellow, clothed with long pale hair, like that on the sides.
Coxae and femora shining black, narrowly yellow at the apex, with grey hair; hind femora moderately thickened, with a short but strong pre-apical tooth; hind trochanters rounded, simple; tibiae black, with the basal third yellow, whitish pilose, those of the hind pair without any apical tooth; tarsi brownish yellow, the last joint black.
Wings grey, unspotted, with typical venation, but the discal cell broader and its inferior corner provided with a short but distinct stump.
Type locality: Durban
iNat observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/191377595
