Sphaerophoria virgata

[stuart]

Sphaerophoria virgata Goeldlin de Tiefenau, 1974

Identification ease/difficulty: 4

Status

• Notable in Falk (1991)

Sources of information

• Page 155 in Stubbs & Falk (1983)
• Map here and page 136 in Ball & Morris (2000)
• Page 229, Pl. P, fig. 5 in Stubbs & Falk (2002)

[stuart]

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

Sphaerophoria virgata Goeldlin de Tiefenau, 1974

Biology: Larvae unknown. It appears to prefer sheltered, heathy locations, most records referring to heathy rides in conifer plantations, mixed woods or Scottish Pinus wood, though one mentions Quercus woodland, and another open Betula. It has been found on the flowers of heathers and Potentilla erecta, and has also been taken in water traps on heathland

Distribution: A scarce and little known species, with few, widely scattered records extending from the New Forest to northern Scotland

[stuart]

Datasheet from the Review of Scarce and Threatened Diptera, Falk (1991).

SPHAEROPHORIA VIRGATA (Goeldlin) NOTABLE

DISTRIBUTION The relatively few records are centred on the south of England (Hampshire, Surrey), the Scottish Highlands (Perthshire, Elgin, Easterness, Argyllshire) with additional sites from Northumberland and the Wyre Forest (Shropshire).

HABITAT Heathland in association with woodland, though abroad it is recorded from a wider range of habitats including broadleaved woods and coniferous plantations.

ECOLOGY Larvae probably aphidophagous. Adults recorded in May and June.

STATUS Only described in 1974 and belonging to a genus that is only just becoming fully understood. It appears to be locally frequent in parts of the Scottish Highlands with about a dozen known post 1960 sites. Recent records also exist for sites in Northumberland, the New Forest and the Wyre Forest.

THREAT Clearance of heathland sites and associated woodland for agriculture or intensive forestry. Mis-management such as undergrazing and resultant scrub or bracken invasion, also overgrazing with a loss of ground cover and flowers for adult feeding.

MANAGEMENT Maintain a pattern of traditional heath management to ensure a mosaic of vegetation types including short turf with flowers such as tormentil Potentilla and bedstraws Galium for adult feeding.