order
Coleoptera
“Adult Beetles”
Coleoptera
“Larval Beetles”
Diptera
“True Flies”
Ephemeroptera
“Mayflies”
Hemiptera
“True Bugs”
Lepidoptera
“Aquatic Caterpillars, Snout Moths”
Megaloptera
“Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies”
Odonata
“Dragonflies and Damselflies”
Plecoptera
“Stoneflies”
Trichoptera
“Caddisflies”
family
Syrphidae
genus
Chrysogaster
“Hover Flies”
Genus Overview
Not very common in aquatic habitats. Larvae are found in damp habitats. The adults are important pollinators.
Characteristics
POLLUTION TOLERANCE
FEEDING HABITS
Collector / Gatherer
MOVEMENT
Burrower
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread (east of the Rocky Mtns.)
HABITAT
Lentic-littoral
Diagnostic Characters
Order
Legs Absent
Family
Head Not Externally Sclerotized
Mouth Hooks Moving Vertically
Posterior Spiracles Fused
Genus
Respiratory Tube
+ Expanded Character List
Order:
Wings and wing pads absent. Eye spots sometimes visible, but compound eyes absent. Segmented legs absent, but sometimes fleshy prolegs present. Sometimes with distinct head, often without head or with head drawn deeply into thorax. Body flattened, cylindrical, or maggot-like.
Family:
The head is not evident, but is reduced to some sclerotized rods inside the thorax; there are no segmented legs; the pair of posterior spiracles are fused with each other and usually on the apex of a telescopic respiratory tube which can be short or very long.
Genus:
respiratory tube about half the body when extended
Dorsal
Ventral