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Syrphidae
Paragus (Paragus) bicolor (Fabricius)
Nomenclature
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Genus: ParagusSubgenus: Paragus (Paragus)
Media
SUMMARY
Paragini, with the single genus Paragus, is a compact and distinctive group occurring in all continents other than South America and Antarctica. Paragus species are small, slender to moderately robust, with thorax black or with apex of scutellum pale, and abdomen usually extensively red-orange to entirely black. Paragus has postpronotum bare, antenna short, anterior anepisternum bare, abdomen parallel-side, face yellow in background colour, metaepisternum bare, scutum black laterally, at most with a poorly defined yellow polinose vitta, and metasternum bare.
The subgenus Paragus sensu Vujic et al. (2008) has eyes with vertical medial vitta of shorter pile; face with distinct facial tubercle; scutum with or without pollinose submedial vitta; scutellum without conspicuous teeth on posterior margin, rhomboidal; spurious vein ending before the meeting point of vein M1 with vein DM; abdomen short and elliptical; terga 1–2 completely fused; terga 3–5 fused laterally; male genitalia: postgonite curved posteriorly; ejaculatory apodeme with four apical ridges; minis large, lateral arms of minis short; epandrium in narrower part twice length of cercus; lateral lobe of aedeagus fused with aedeagal apodeme; aedeagus in lateral view strongly asymmetric, ‘keel-like’, with well-developedbasal part.
Existing keys do not differentiate P. bicolor from the full range of known, related, European species. At present, identification can only be reliably carried out using features of the male terminalia. The females cannot be identified with certainty, due to the potential for confusion with females of related species, for some of which females are yet to be described.