Bee Mimic

Okay, thanks Small Wonders, and thanks everyone else for their help and courteous comments!

I think I will put the scientific name as

Eristalis sp., probably dimidiata, maybe stipator.

Does that sound good?

If you are referring to the bands on the first abdominal segment, this is characteristic to both E. dimidiata and E. stipator - see http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/775....
The scutellum seems much darker/duller than the stipators I've seen.
But, unfortunately it is often impossible to make a positive i.d. from a photo alone :(

Notice the terra cotta right behind the wing.

Okay, I am currently uploading the picture that zooms in behind the wings. I am sorry it is blurry. E. dimidiata seems too dark, especially considering mine has more gray on its back than black, in contrast to that of E. dimidiata. Give me your opinions on this last photo, and if it still seems like E. dimidiata, I'll put it as that, and change it if bugguide notes otherwise.

I think Small wonders is absolutely correct: http://bugguide.net/node/view/469339/bgi...

Small wonders, I was leaning toward E. dimidiata myself, but hadn't seen any pictures of the females, so I wasn't sure.

Thanks Small Wonders. I am currently going to put this on www.bugguide.net just to be sure! Thanks again! :)

Hi jgorneau, this is a female Eristalis dimidiata... Usually the darkest in coloration of Eristalis & common here in the Northeast : )

Oxyjack, I will crop the photo and circle them in red. They may be harder to see after the crop, though.

I just don't see those markings, so I hesitate to say it is definitely E. stipator.

Thanks MaryEvans2!

Okay! Thanks oxyjack!! As I was looking more closely on my photo, I did notice Eristalis stipator marks behind the wings. I think I will ID this as Eristalis stipator, does that sound good, oxyjack.

You might want to submit this one to bugguide.net. They have some good syrphid people who may be able to give you a species ID on this one. I think Eristalis is correct here, but yours lacks markings that the more well-known species have. Could be it's a male/female thing, or it could be an undescribed species.

Nice spotting and photos

Eristalis stipator has a terra cotta mark behind the wings. This would remove my previous assumptions.

I would like expert conformation though.

ID Confirmed with this link:

http://www.opsu.edu/Academics/SciMathNur...

Eristalis stipator?

http://bugguide.net/node/view/613427