Nordic tribes

"Nationalnyckeln till Sveriges flora och fauna" is a multi-volume work covering select portions of the Swedish plant- and wildlife. Originally intended to cover *all* (!) species of plants, animals and fungi in Sweden, the series is now published on a more sporadic basis. 

"Tvåvingar: Blomflugor.  Diptera: Syrphidae: Syrphinae" (otherwise known as volume DH53a) covers 169 species of hoverflies of the subfamily Syrphinae. The two other syrphid subfamilies, Eristalinae and Microdontinae, are covered in vol DH53b (reviewed by me elsewhere on this blog). For some reason, the hoverfly volumes cover all Nordic species, not just the Swedish ones. The Nordic countries and territories are Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Svalbard. Greenland is excluded. 

Volume DH53a begins with a general overview of the hoverfly family, including sections on morphology, ecology, species diversity and collection for study (why would anyone want to kill and collect these beautiful creatures, is beyond me). Systematics are apparently difficult in this group. The existence of three subfamilies is generally accepted, the number and extent of tribes and genera not so much. "Nationalnyckeln" accepts the following tribes within Syrphinae: Bacchini, Melanostomini, Paragini, Chrysotoxini, Syrphini. 

The bulk of the book contains species presentations. General characteristics, behavior, range, and the etymology and pronunciation of the scientific name are discussed for each species. Range maps are included. The Swedish vernacular names seem to be mostly new, constructed by the "Committee for Swedish Animal Names" (I didn´t know we had one!). Each species is illustrated both to scale and magnified, and most illustrations are in color. There are also lavish color photos in the introduction. There are very short English summaries, and bilingual identification keys, but otherwise this is a Swedish in-house work. 

Still, since hoverflies are more appealing than, say, gadflies, the volume could be an excellent collector´s item even if you don´t understand a word of it! Recommended.