{{Short description|Species of fly}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Speciesbox | image = Hoverfly perched on grass.jpg | image2=Hoverfly on flower in Sydney.jpg | taxon = Melangyna viridiceps | authority = (Macquart, 1847) <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zmuc.dk/entoWeb/collections-databaser/Diptera/Syrphidae%20all.htm |date=17 May 2005 |title=Collection inventory of the Diptera collection: Syrphidae |publisher=Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen (ZMUC) |author=Rudolf Meier|display-authors=etal}}</ref> }}
'''''Melangyna viridiceps''''' is an Australian hoverfly, known as the '''common hover fly'''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ento.csiro.au/aicn/name_c/a_980.htm |title=Common hover fly ''Melangyna viridiceps'' |publisher=CSIRO |date=18 September 2004}}</ref>
==Description== thumb|left|160px|Pollinating a flower It is one of the two most common hoverflies in Australia, alongside ''Simosyrphus grandicornis'',<ref>{{cite journal |author1=E. Soleyman-Nezhadiyan |author2=R. Laughlin |name-list-style=amp |year=1998 |title=Voracity of larvae, rate of development in eggs, larvae and pupae, and flight seasons of adults of the hoverflies ''Melangyna viridiceps'' Macquart and ''Symosyrphus grandicornis'' Macquart (Diptera: Syrphidae) |journal=Australian Journal of Entomology |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=243–248 |doi=10.1111/j.1440-6055.1998.tb01578.x}}</ref> with which it has often been confused,<ref name=thompson2008>{{cite journal |author=F.C. Thompson |year=2008 |title=A conspectus of New Zealand flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) with the description of a new genus and species |journal=Zootaxa |volume=1716 |issue=1716 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1716.1.1 |s2cid=86666538 |url=http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/zt01716p020.pdf}}</ref> but can be distinguished by its all black thorax.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_flies/SYRPHIDAE.htm|title=Hover Fly - Family Syrphidae|first=Peter|last=Chew|accessdate=30 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129165952/http://brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_flies/SYRPHIDAE.htm|archive-date=29 November 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
''M. viridiceps'' has a body up to 1 cm in length.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Melangyna (Austrosyrphus) viridiceps (Macquart, 1847) |url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/623f0c55-e927-42a7-b0e6-220fec9d9691 |website=bie.ala.org.au}}</ref>
==Feeding== The adult flies feed on pollen and nectar which they gather from flowers, while the larvae feed on aphids.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_flies/CommonHover.htm |title=Common hover fly — ''Melangyna viridiceps'' |date=22 December 2004 |publisher=Brisbane Insects and Spiders Home Page|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050828111113/http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_flies/CommonHover.htm|archivedate=28 August 2005}} (Note that while the text is correct, the photos are misidentified specimens of ''Simosyrphus'')</ref>
==Distribution== It is found widely across Eastern Australia.
Some sources indicate that the species is also present in New Zealand, either on the Kermadec Islands only,<ref name=macfarlane2000>{{cite web |url=http://www.ento.org.nz/diptera_checklist.htm |title=Checklist of New Zealand Diptera |publisher=Entomological Society of New Zealand |date=3 March 2000 |author1=R. P. Macfarlane |author2=I. G. Andrew |author3=B. J. Sinclair |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527022338/http://www.ento.org.nz/diptera_checklist.htm |archivedate=27 May 2010|display-authors=etal}}</ref> or on both the Kermadecs and the mainland.<ref>{{cite journal |author=D. Miller |year=1921 |title=Material for a monograph on the Diptera fauna of New Zealand. Part II, Family Syrphidae |journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute |volume=53 |pages=289–333}}</ref> Most recent sources,<ref>For example the [https://archive.today/20121203023506/http://demo.nzor.org.nz/search?query=Melangyna ''New Zealand Organisms Registry''] does not list it for its New Zealand Regin (which includes the Kermadec Islands).</ref> however, do not record this species as being present outside of Australia. Miller's 1921 mention for the Kermadec was found to be a misidentification for ''Simosyrphus grandicornis'',<ref name=thompson2008/> and Macfarlane ''et al.''<ref name=macfarlane2000/> failed to cite specimens or published reports for their claim of the species' presence in the Kermadec.
== References == {{Reflist|32em}}
== External links == * {{Wikispecies-inline|Melangyna viridiceps|''Melangyna viridiceps''}}
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Category:Syrphini Category:Flies of Australasia Category:Insects used as insect pest control agents Category:Insects described in 1847 Category:Taxa named by Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart
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