The early stages and life histories of three Eumerus and two Merodon species (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Mediterranean region

This paper describes the early stages and life histories of the syrphids Eumerus obliquus (Fabricius, 1805), E. pulchellus Loew, 1848, E. pusillus Loew, 1848, Merodon constans (Rossi, 1794) and M. luteihumerus Marcos-Garcia, Vujic & Mengual, 2007 (Diptera, Syrphidae) from Spain and Morocco. E. pulchellus, E. pusillus and M. luteihumerus were found inside bulbs of Urginea maritima (L.) Baker and E. pulchellus additionally in tubers of Asphodelus aestivus Brot. These data are some ofthe few obtained of natural plant relationships in these speciesrich genera. E. obliquus was found in fruits and platyclades of Opuntia maxima Mill., both insect and host plant are introductions. M. constans was found in commercially grown bulbs of Muscari comosum (L.) Mill. The Eumerus larvae studied here appear to more saprophagous than phytophagous but M. luteihumerus at least, seems to be a strict phytophage.