Eumerus strigatus

[stuart]

Eumerus strigatus (Fallén, 1817)

Identification ease/difficulty: 3

Sources of information

• Page 201, Pl. 7, fig 17 in Stubbs & Falk (1983)
• Map here and page 67 in Ball & Morris (2000)
• Page 303, Pl. 7, fig. 17 in Stubbs & Falk (2002)

Pictures:

[stuart]

Species account from Provisional atlas of British hoverflies, Ball & Morris, 2000.

Eumerus strigatus (Fallén, 1817)

Biology: The larvae tunnel in the bulbs of Narcissus and rhizomes of Iris, as well as a range of other cultivated and wild species, usually when there is some damage and rot is present. There is a possibility that Pastinaca sativa is a wild host (Stubbs pers . comm.). Adults are usually found flying low among vegetation or resting on dead stems and bare soil. They occur in gardens, but are more frequent in wetland habitats; they were, for example, much more abundant than E. tuberculatus in material from water traps in the East Anglian fens

Distribution: Widespread throughout lowland Britain, but less frequently recorded than E. tuberculatus