Criorhina berberina is a species of hoverfly. It is found in the Palaearctic from Fennoscandia South to Iberia and Italy. Ireland eastwards through Europe into Turkey and European Russia .Peck, L.V. (1988) Syrphidae. In: Soos, A. & Papp, L. (eds.) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera, 8: 11-230. Akad.Kiado, Budapest. C. berberina is a bumblebee mimic. The body has uniformly long dense pubescence, obscuring the ground-colour. There are two forms one with the pubescence more or less extensively blackish (typical berberina), one in which it is entirely yellow or tawny (berberina var. oxyacanthae Meigen). Criorhina differ from other bumblebee mimics - Mallota, Arctophila, Pocota and Brachypalpus by the form of their antennae: the first segments are thin and form a stalk, the third segment is shorter than it is wide. In Criorhina, the face projects downwards, in contrast to Pocota and Brachypalpus.Van Veen, M. (2004) Hoverflies of Northwest Europe: identification keys to the Syrphidae. 256pp. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht.addendum Van der Goot, V.S. (1981) De zweefvliegen van Noordwest - Europa en Europees Rusland, in het bijzonder van de Benelux. KNNV, Uitgave no.32: 275pp. Amsterdam. Bei-Bienko, G.Y. & Steyskal, G.C. (1988) Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR, Volume V: Diptera and Siphonaptera, Part I. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi. .Coe, R.L. (1953) Diptera: Syrphidae. Handbks.ident.Br.insects, 10(1): 1-98. R.ent.Soc.London. pdf
Larvae of C. berberina are associated with rotting deciduous wood. The larva is figured by Hartley (1961) Hartley, J.C. (1961) A taxonomic account of the larvae of some British Syrphidae. Proc.zool.Soc.Lond.,136: 505-573. and Rotheray (1993) Rotheray G., 1993 Colour Guide to Hoverfly Larvae Diptera, Syrphidae in Britain and Europe Dipterists Forum pdf Adults are arboreal and found in most categories of both coniferous and deciduous forest with overmature trees and are seen visiting flowers to feed. These include white umbellifers, Allium ursinum, Cornus sanguinea, Crataegus, Euonymus, Filipendula, Frangula alnus, Hypericum, Lonicera xylosteum, Photinia, Ranunculus, Rhamnus catharticus, Rhododendron, Rosa, Rubus idaeus, Salix, Sorbus, Taraxacum and Viburnum opulus.de Buck, N. (1990) Bloembezoek en bestuivingsecologie van Zweefvliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) in het bijzonder voor België. Doc.Trav. IRSNB, no.60, 1–167. The flight period is May to July . C. berberina is a bioindicator.
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