Helophilus groenlandicus

[stuart]

Helophilus groenlandicus (Fabricius, 1780)

Identification ease/difficulty: 5

Status

• Vulnerable in Falk (1991)
• Rare in Shirt (1987)

Sources of information

• Page 196, Pl. 12, fig 2 in Stubbs & Falk (1983)
• Map here and page 75 in Ball & Morris (2000)
• Page 296, Pl. 12, fig. 2 in Stubbs & Falk (2002)

[stuart]

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

Helophilus groenlandicus (Fabricius, 1780)

Biology: Larvae unknown. Adult habits are little known, but it is an insect of tundra bogs

Distribution: This species is known only from a very few specimens from the north-west coast of Scotland and the Inner Hebrides, although there are as yet unconfirmed recent records from the Isle of Man (Thorpe quoted in Stubbs, 1996). This is a species with a northern Holarctic distribution, occurring in Norway, the Baltic countries, the northern Russia, northern Siberia, Greenland and N.America from Nova Scotia to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the USA (but not recorded from Iceland) (Speight, 1998). Its status in Britain is not known. It is possibly established in remote areas of north-western Scotland where field recorders are few, or could be a vagrant from further north, although it is unusual for vagrants to be recorded mainly from the north-west

[stuart]

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

HELOPHILUS GROENLANDICUS Loew VULNERABLE

DISTRIBUTION In Stubbs and Falk (1983) this species is stated as being only known from single specimens from Canna (1936) and Raasay in the Inner Hebrides. However, the Royal Scottish Museum contains a Waterhouse specimen labelled Poll Duchail, I. of Eigg, 9/7/1939.

HABITAT Probably associated with boggy pools on moorland.

ECOLOGY Larvae aquatic probably developing in boggy pools and are of the rat-tailed maggot type. Adults recorded in July.

STATUS A boreal species which could be resident on the Scottish Islands or windblown from northern latitudes. The low level of recording on these islands means it could have been overlooked in recent years. Status revised from RDB3 (Shirt 1987).

THREAT The destruction of bogs on the Scottish islands through peat cutting.

MANAGEMENT Retain such bogs ensuring a high, stable water level and control the amount of peat cutting on such islands.