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Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society |
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Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society |
The past year was probably the most productive ever for hoverfly recording in Gloucestershire, yielding nearly 750 new records. These include two new species for the county, both found by David Gibbs. The first of these was Callicera aurata, a female of which David took at Shortwood. All three British Callicera species have Red Data Book status, though C. aurata is the “commonest” of the three. Callicera are also among the most attractive-looking of all hoverflies: C. aurata has a metallic sap green abdomen with golden hairs. It is a woodland species. The other first for the county was Pipiza lugubris, a female of which David found during the GIG meeting at Flaxley Flushes on 7 July. Pipiza species are among the most difficult hoverflies to determine, but P. lugubris stands out by having sharply defined dark brown wing clouds.
Anasimyia lineata is a widespread wetland hoverfly, which I have seen in good numbers in several areas of the UK, but which seems to be unusually scarce in Gloucestershire (I have never seen it myself in the county). However John Phillips was able to increase the small number of county records for this species by 50% by finding it at Dilke and Kensley Lagoons on 17 July and 18 July respectively.
Criorhina ranunculi is an impressive looking bumblebee mimic (with two colour forms resembling respectively red and white-tailed bumblebees), not often recorded because its flight period is early in the year, and because it most often feeds high up in shrubs such as sallow and laurel. This species was found at Mallards Pike (2 April) and at Batsford Arboretum (19 April ). Criorhina asilica, a honey bee mimic with few county records, was found by David Gibbs at Chedworth Woods on 23 June. A male of the most frequently recorded Criorhina species, C. berberina, was in Gotherington Wood on 4 July. Although I have often recorded this species, this was actually the first time that I have ever seen a male! C. berberina is another bumblebee mimic with two colour forms; the form that I saw in Gotherington Wood was oxyacanthae which is covered in tawny hairs and mimics the carder bumble bees such as Bombus pascuorum. A rather similar looking hoverfly that also mimics tawny haired bumblebees is Arctophila superbiens. This spectacular insect has traditionally been scarce in Gloucestershire, but seems to be increasing in frequency within the last two years. It was seen in Gotherington Wood on several occasions by Martin Matthews and myself between 4 and 27 September. John Phillips also found it in Blaisdon Wood on 13 September.
Didea fasciata is an ancient woodland hoverfly usually seen singly. However I found it in numbers at Hay Wood on 5 May and at Stoneworks Marsh on 23 September. Two Sphaerophoria species were recorded during a GIG meeting at Crabtree Hill on 10 August. These were S. philanthus, a heathland specialist, taken by Martin Matthews, and S. rueppellii, which has no special association with heath, taken both by Martin Matthews and by Keith Alexander.
Two years ago I reported the unexpected appearance in numbers of Rhingia rostrata at Cotswold sites. This species continues to flourish in the area for the third successive year.
Two hoverfly species have recently been split by taxonomists. These are Cheilosia albitarsis, the hoverfly most frequently seen on buttercup flowers – now known to be two species (C. albitarsis and C. ranunculi); and Platycheirus scutatus (now split into three species: P. scutatus, P. splendidus and P. aurolateralis). In both cases only males can be identified. The county’s first records for the newly-named species were provided during the year: Cheilosia ranunculi at The Mythe (on 23 April and 4 May by Martin Matthews, and on 8 May by David Gibbs) and Elmbridge Court (Martin Matthews on 20 May), and Platycheirus splendidus at Ashchurch (5 April) and Elmbridge Court (25 April); both records from Martin Matthews.
The second edition of “British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide” by Alan E Stubbs and Steven J Falk was published by the British Entomological and Natural History Society (BENHS) during the year. This new edition of the standard work on the UK hoverfly fauna (first published in 1983) has been extensively revised and updated; it is more than 200 pages longer and includes 20 more species that have been added to the British list since the original edition was published. It costs £30 (£20 to BENHS members).
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