Doesburg and Doesburg (1977) described a new genus, Loveridgeana, and gave a full diagnosis for it:
"Eyes bare; the male narrowly dichoptic, vertex at narrowest point with a deep depression between inner eye-angles, width here about 1/ 10 of width of head; ocellar triangle situated in the middle between inner eye-angles and postero-dorsal eye-angles. In the female the narrowest point between the eyes at posterior ocelli; width here somewhat less than 1/5 of width of head. Face rather prominent, hardly receding below the blunt tubercle.
Thorax pale yellow, only disc of scutum dull greyish black; scutellum darkened, subtriangular with rounded apex, subscutellar fringe absent, apex (apart from the remaining setation) with two longer bristles pointing backwards. Metascutum black. Wings longer than abdomen, densely covered with microtrichia, anal lobe moderately reduced, alula narrow and parallel sided; venation normal, vein M1 strongly bisinuous. Legs long and slender, unmodified and unornamented. Anterior portion of anepisternum bare, posterior portion sparsely invested with short pile. Katepisternum with few scattered short pile; other pleural parts practically bare. Metasternum with a few pile. Abdomen unmargined, sides strongly bent downwards, slender, especially in the male. Male genitalia: tergite 9 large, rounded; cerci small, deeply situated in cercal emargination, totally enclosed by the postero-dorsal arms of the tergite which, however are not fused together. Surstyli large; postero-dorsal lobe with short setae apically, medio-dorsal margins asymmetrically curved; antero-ventral (lower) lobe large, divided. Sternite 9 without a lingula. Superior lobe elongate. Aedeagus slender, distiphallus large.
Dorsal parts of thorax, legs, and abdomen covered with short, stiff, black setae." (adapted from Doesburg and Doesburg 1977).
Doesburg and Doesburg (1977) described a new genus, Loveridgeana, and recognised a close relationship with Sphaerophoria and Eosphaerophoria, but listed a combination of characters to distinguish them. Characters that indicate a close relationship to Sphaerophoria are: the venation of the wing, the slender structure of the abdomen, the large male terrninalia which are symmetrical (except for the mesodorsal margins of the surstyli), and the very deep situation of the cerci in the cereal emargination. However, the dichopty in the male, the slightly triangular scutellum, the reduced anal lobe and the narrow alula of the wing, the still open cercal emargination, and the reduced black markings of the abdomen suggest certain affinities to Eosphaerophoria. Finally, some features that are more or less characteristic of this new genus are: the large wings which give the species - especially the males - a Ocyptamus-like [Baccha-like in the original text] appearance, the very short and stiff setation of abdomen and, dorsal parts of the thorax; the very scanty pile of the pleural parts; the short setation and the asymmetrical medio-dorsal margins of the surstyli which are lacking inner lobes.
Thompson (2010) recognises Loveridgeana as subgenus of Sphaerophoria.
Synonym:
Loveridgeana beattiei Doesburg & Doesburg, 1977: 64.
Sphaerophoria (Loveridgeana) beattiei (Doesburg & Doesburg, 1977).
Doesburg, P.H. van (Sr.) & Doesburg, P.H. van (Jr.) 1977. La faune terrestre de l'Ile de Sainte-Helene. Troisieme partie. 13. Fam. Syrphidae. Annales du Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale Ser. 8vo (Zool.) 215 (1976), 63-74.
Adapted from original description (Doesburg and Doesburg 1977).
MALE.
Head seen from above about twice as broad as long; ocellar triangle rather narrow, truncated by a deep depression between the inner eye-angles. Ocellar triangle, and the broad occiput, blackish with moderately long, black, errect, bristly pile. Occiput dull by greyish dust. Frontal triangle narrow, yellow. Face yellowish white, narrow, in frontal view slightly widening towards the mouth-border. In profile the face is rather prominent, nearly straight between the antenna and the indistinct facial tubercle, hardly receding between tubercle and oral opening. Face bare, gena broad, somewhat triangularly widening in front, posteriorly darkened. Antennae yellowish orange, basoflagellomere oval, with a small blackish macula on the dorsal margin; arista long, black, bare. Antennal bristles, and frontal pile, black, the face bare.
Thorax: postpronotum and sides yellowish, scutum black. The latter, however, densely greyish pollinose with exception of three vittae where the ground-colour is clearly visible. The median vitta is complete between anterior and posterior margin, the submedian ones do not reach the posterior border though they pass the suture more or less. Suture slightly impressed and clearly visible, reaching the sub-median black vitta. The dark disk of the scutum and its yellow sides are separated by a narrow, black line. Pleura immaculate, pale yellow, somewhat vitreous in places. Scutellum subtriangular, yellow, darkened at disc. Metascutum black. Scutum and scutellum with extremely short, black, decumbent pile; some longer, erected pile at the mesonotal and scutellar margins. Calypter yellow with a dorsal and ventral lobe and with long yellow fringe. Halteres pale yellow, the capitulum darkened. Wings large (6.5-8.7 mm), hyaline, iridescent, somewhat darkened 'by microtrichia'; sub-costal cell yellow, not divided by a cross-vein or a stigma. Alulae long, narrow, with parallel sides. Venation normal, vein M1 strongly bisinuous, its base and apex rectangularly meeting the adjoining longitudinal veins. Legs long and slender, yellow, femora with a small brown macula ventrally near apex, coxae pale pubescent, legs mostly with very short, black pile, slightly longer on the metafemora, metatibiae and mesofemora.
Abdomen: shorter than the wings, slender, slightly tapering from the base to the apex of the third segment; fourth segment widening from base to apex, forming together with the fifth and following segments a longish, oval club. Apical margin of fifth tergite bisinuous, right lobe longer than left. All tergites yellow with black markings: first tergum with a black apical fascia, not reaching the black lateral margins; second tergum mesobasally with a black, long triangle, the black colour gradually evanescent to the apex of the segment. There is a pre-apical, broadly interrupted, laterally curved fascia, and a complete, black line along the apical margin of the segment. Markings of third and fourth terga rather similar to those of the second but gradually becoming more indistinct and ill-defined. Hypopygium with a deep, longitudinal excavation along the right side of the median line. Dorsum of abdomen densely invested with black micro-spinules, scattingly intermingled with longer, black pile. These black pile are more abundant laterally, especially on the fourth and fifth segments, but the first and second segments laterally with very long, white pile. Venter pale yellow, the first sternum with long, white pile, the second sternum with a medial tubercle at the base, and with 2 or 4 black maculae. The visible male genitalia
moderately large and without an outstanding hair-tuft. Male genitalia: tergite 9 (epandrium) spherical, postero-Iaterally with a deep, narrow, membrane-filled indentation, and covered with short, fine pile; cercal emargination very deep, but the posterodorsal arms, though largely enclosing the small and slender cerci, are not fused medially. Surstyli rather large, three-lobed; apex of posterodorsal lobe covered with rather short setae; medio-dorsal margins asymmetrically curved, the left one forming a hook-like tooth basally, corresponding with an indentation at the inner side of the right surstylus. There is no trace of an inner lobe at the inner side of the surstyli. Sternite 9 (hypandrium) small, simple, and narrowed postero-medially, lacking a lingula; postero-Iateral apices acute. Superior lobes with a dorsal tooth near the middle, and set with some very small setae. Aedeagus: phalapodeme long, gently curved, sword-like; basiphallus small, with an antero-dorsal extension; distiphallus large, dorsally with a recurved hook, densely covered with sharp spinulae.
FEMALE.
With exception of the sexual characters similar to the male. Frons somewhat wider than in the male but without the deep transverse depression; about the upper half, and the ocellar triangle, blackish, the lower half yellow. Frontal pile bristly, black. Abdomen gradually narrowing from base to apex, the transverse black markings not larger but more distinct on the third and fourth tergites. Sixth segment very short, yellow, terminal segments black, cerci yellow; posterior margin of the eighth tergum gradually rounded.
unless otherwise stated