Taxonomy
Pipizella viduata
Distribution
Species Biology
Preferred environment
forest/open ground; dune grassland, heathland (and partly-drained bog dominated by ericaceous scrub), unimproved pasture, grassy clearings in woodland, especially scrub woodland; in southern Europe, apparently mostly a woodland species; alluvial hardwood forest. In contrast to the situation over much of continental Europe, in Ireland P. viduata is not characteristically a woodland hoverfly. Nearly all Irish records of P. viduata are derived from one or another of three different situations. The first of these is open ground dominated by low-growing ericaceous shrubs, from boggy moorland through to raised bog, the second is limestone karst grasslands, the third is coastal dune grasslands. Ecological conditions in dune grassland and raised bog might reasonably be regarded as rather different, leading to speculation that perhaps more than one species is confused under the name P. viduata in Ireland. However, there is no evidence from the external morphology of the adults that this is the case. But given that a large number of extremely similar Pipizella species occur in Europe, many of which can only readily be distinguished by examination of the male terminalia, it remains prudent to check the identity of all male specimens taken in Ireland and to confine records to the male sex. P. viduata is not a species which survives in farmland comprising drained, reseeded grassland, fields and hedges. Neither does it occur in conifer plantations or suburban gardens. It thus has to be regarded as largely anthropophobic in the Ireland of today.
Adult habitat & habits
flies in and out of low-growing vegetation, rarely at more than 1m from the ground; as easily detected by use of a sweep net as by direct observation; however, in woodland situations often frequents the vicinity of pathside Rubus fruticosus bushes.
Flight period
mid April/beginning October, with peaks in May/June and mid July. Larva: the larva is Chandler (1968).
Flowers visited
umbellifers; Euphorbia, Galium, Potentilla erecta. For an extended list of flowers visited by this species, see de Buck (1990).
Distribution
World distribution(GBIF)
from Fennoscandia south to Iberia and the Mediterranean; from Ireland eastwards through most of Europe into European parts of Russia and the Caucasus; Western Siberia. Its distribution is similar to what is observed in central Scandinavia, where the species abruptly becomes very infrequent and then absent further north. Further south in Europe it is both widely distributed and frequent, only becoming more restricted (to mountainous parts) in the Mediterranean zone.
Irish distribution
Recorded as occurring in Ireland in Coe (1953), wherein it appears under the name P. varipes. The presence of P. viduata in Ireland was confirmed by Speight (1978d). In earlier literature, P. viduata appeared under the name P. virens (Fab.). It is now recognised that P. virens is distinct from P. viduata. Andrews (1914) recorded P. virens from Kenmare (Co.Kerry), but he was presumably referring to specimens of what is today called P. viduata. There are no substantiated records of P. virens (Fab.) from Ireland. P. virens is predominantly an insect of well-drained deciduous woodland and might be expected in the south east of the island, if it were to occur here at all.
Distribution frequency in Ireland
Pipizella viduata is widely distributed and not infrequent in Ireland, except for in the north of the island, where it appears to be largely absent.
Temporal change
Records submitted to Data Centre in 2025
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