Taxonomy
Melangyna compositarum
Distribution
Species Biology
Preferred environment
Conifer forest (Larix, Pinus) and conifer plantations, up to (and including) the Larix zone. There is no habitat information associated with the sole Irish record of this species. Habitat data from elsewhere in Europe, where it is associated with conifers in montane situations, occurring from the Picea zone up to the tree line in Larix forest, provide no clue as to why M. compositarum would not be found frequently in Ireland now, given that it definitely occurred here earlier this century. Perhaps is depends upon Larix or Pinus sylvestris-associated aphids which are missing from Ireland? Certainly, the aphid fauna of P. sylvestris in Ireland is depauperate and probably accounts for the absence from Ireland of pine syrphids like Didea intermedia (Loew) and Eupeodes nielseni (Dusek & Laska). But if M. compositarum has not been recorded for more than 50 years in Ireland for this reason, why was it present in the 1930s? Curiously, a second pine-associated syrphid with aphidophagous larvae, Didea alneti, exhibits a similar history in Ireland.
Adult habitat & habits
Largely arboreal, but descends to visit flowers (usually small trees in bloom); males hover from 2m upwards, at the edge of stands of trees.
Flight period
End May/September (July/September at higher altitudes). Larva: undescribed.
Flowers visited
White Umbelliferae; Galium, Sorbus aucuparia.
Irish reference specimens
In the collections of NMI
Determination
Speight (1988a). The male terminalia are figured by Hippa (1978). The adult insect is illustrated in colour by Kormann (1988) and Torp (1994).
Distribution
World distribution(GBIF)
From Fennoscandia south to the Pyrenees and northern Spain; from Ireland eastwards through northern and central Europe (plus northern Italy and the former Yugoslavia) into European parts of Russia; in Siberia from the Urals to the Pacific coast (Kuril Islands); in N America from Alaska south through the Rocky mountains to New Mexico.
Irish distribution
Added to the Irish list by Speight et al (1975). Only one record of M. compositarum is known from Ireland, dating from more than 50 years ago, and it is reasonable to presume the species is extinct here. In case it persists, M. compositarum should be included in any listing of insects requiring protection at national level in Ireland. It is not regarded as threatened elsewhere in Europe, apart from in Belgium.
Temporal change
Records submitted to Data Centre in 2024
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References
Publications
Speight, M. C. D. (2008) Database of Irish Syrphidae
(Diptera). Irish Wildlife Manuals, No. 36. National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin, Ireland.
Speight, M.C.D. (2014) Species accounts of European
Syrphidae (Diptera), 2014. Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae,
vol. 78, 321 pp., Syrph the Net publications, Dublin.