Scathophaga suilla (Fabricius, 1794)

Chandler's (1998)[1] checklist accepted the view of Šifner (1995)[2] that S. taeniopa was a synonym of this species whilst previous British keys and checklists have regarded them as separate species. The status of S. taeniopa was restored by Bernasconi et al. (2001)[3]. This nomenclatural confusion complicates matters and makes much of the recent literature hard to interpret.

This is generally a small species and the ground colour of the lower front part of the thorax (humeri to front coxae extending on to the mesopleuron and sternopleuron) and the lower part of the occiput tend to be pale yellow. The antennae, palps and proboscis all have a pale ground colour and the abdomen (which usually has a darker ground colour) has thick bands of yellow-brown dusting. These factors, together with the entirely yellow legs, all give an overall pale impression. The wing has both cross-veins infuscated. Wing length: ♂ 5.1 - 6.0 - 7.4 mm (17); ♀ 5.5 - 6.2 - 7.2 mm (21).

References