What speces have crashed this year?

[conopid]

I have had a good year finding uncommon and new (to me) species, but for some normally common species the season has been extraordinarily poor. Here are a few observations:

Platycheirus - very low numbers and I have not seen any P manicatum!
Eupodes - extremely low numbers all season and barely any in August.
Cheilosia - depressingly low numbers. I have only found singles or twos and three at best on most days. Only C variabilis seemed to have a decent season.
Leucozona laternaria - only two seen so far!

What have others experienced?

[Roger K.A. Morris]

Hello Nigel

I would concur in terms of Eupeodes - pretty scarce.

P. manicatus - have seen in a variety of northerly places. I would, however agree in general terms that aphidophages are sparse.

Cheilosia - maybe not the richest year but I took for species today and I don't think I've missed much this year that I would expect to see - maybe C. impressa a bit down.

Trouble is that I've been all over the place and seen a fair bit - but it has been hard work in general. E. blateatus has been remarkably scarce or at least low numbers.

Regards

Roger

[AngieT]

Very few hoverflies at all in my Dorset garden, and noticeably no Volucella zonaria. We only get one or two of these each year, but they have been fixtures in the garden for the past five or six years in July and August. Still, we have had the Helophilus pendulus this year which I've never seen before. Sorry my hovers are always common species!