Entom. Pl. syrphi. [mod.L. (as generic name in Fabricius, 1775), ad. Gr. σύρφος gnat.] A fly of the genus Syrphus, typical of the Syrphidæ, a large and widely distributed family of two-winged flies, mostly bright-colored, feeding on pollen and in the larval state often on plant-lice, etc. Hence Syrphian, Syrphid adjs., belonging to this family; also as sbs.
1834. McMurtrie, Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., 458. In Syrphus, properly so called, the abdomen is gradually narrowed from base to point.
1862. T. W. Harris, Insects Injur. Vegetat. (ed. 3), 608. The Syrphians (Syrphidæ) have a fleshy, large-lipped proboscis.
1876. Vam Beneden’s Anim. Parasites (1883), 122. The banded Syrphus (Syrphus baltcatus), when in the larva state, seizes the rose aphides, and sucks their blood.
1879. E. P. Wright, Anim. Life, 510. The Syrphi form a pretty family of flies.
1879. Amer. Naturalist, XIII. 260. Certain syrphus-flies, passionately fond of color, and themselves brightly colored,… have succeeded in producing certain flowers corresponding to their tastes.
1899. D. Sharp, in Cambr. Nat. Hist., VI. 502. Syrphid larvae.
