Eristalis


Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. One of the more common species in the genus, Eristalis tenax is also known as the dronefly, because it bears a superficial resemblance to honeybee drones. Droneflies and their relatives are fairly common generalist pollinators, the larvae of which are aquatic, and breathe through a long, snorkel-like appendage, hence the common name rat-tailed maggots.
Eristalis is a large genus of around 99 species, and is subdivided into several subgenera and species groups.

Scientific name and grammatical gender

The scientific name was proposed by Pierre André Latreille in 1804. He placed seven species in his new genus, but listed the names as combinations with Syrphus, so it remained unclear what gender he attributed to the name. In the two centuries following its publication, Eristalis was sometimes considered to be of feminine gender, sometimes to be of masculine gender. George Henry Verrall assigned its gender as masculine, a choice followed in British literature, and also in Dutch, Polish, Czech, Spanish and Portuguese literature. In several other European languages and in North America, the tradition was to consider it as a feminine word. In 1993 the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature placed the name on the Official List, and gave its gender as masculine, without justification for that choice. In 2004, Peter Chandler, Andrew Wakeham-Dawson and Angus McCullough submitted an application to confirm the gender of Eristalis as feminine. They referred to ICZN Art. 30.1.1, which states that a name in Latin form takes the gender given for that word in standard Latin dictionaries. In Composition of Scientific Words by R.W. Brown, "eristalis" is listed as a feminine word that refers to an unknown precious stone. The request of Chandler et al. was granted less than two years after submission. As of 2006, Eristalis is officially a word of feminine gender.

Species List