Taxonomy

Cheilosia chrysocoma

Distribution

Species Biology

Preferred environment

Wetland/forest: Alnus-Salix woodland; fen carr & alluvial softwood forest. In continental Europe this species is characteristic of alluvial softwood forest, with Salix alba and S. viminalis - a biotope almost entirely missing in Ireland. Irish localities for C. chrysocoma are nonetheless mostly scrub Salix woodland in swampy situations beside standing or running water. It is tempting to suggest the larval foodplant may be some large umbellifer or composite occurring in such situations, but until the larval host plant is identified it will remain difficult to characterise the habitat needs of this species more precisely. C. chrysocoma does not occur in the standard farmland landscape of green fields and hedges, or in conifer plantations, suburban gardens or parks. It is thus a strongly anthropophobic insect in today's Ireland.

Adult habitat & habits

Tracks and glades, on low-growing vegetation in the sun.

Flight period

April/June. Larva: undescribed, but the adult female has repeatedly been observed (Doczkal, 1996b) egg-laying on Angelica sylvestris, providing strong evidence that this is a larval host plant. Bagachanova (1990) reports rearing this species from a Chinese umbellifer (Cnidium).

Flowers visited

Caltha, Crataegus, Narcissus, Prunus, Ranunculus, Salix, inc. S. viminalis.

Irish reference specimens

In the collections of NMI and UM

Determination

van der Goot (1981). The adult insect is illustrated in colour in Bartsch et al (2009b), Stubbs and Falk (1983), Torp (1994) and Kormann (1988). The surstyli of the male terminalia are figured by Stubbs and Falk (2002).

Distribution

World distribution(GBIF)

Scandinavia south to northern Spain, Italy and Bulgaria; Ireland eastwards through central Europe to European parts of Russia and on into Siberia.  It occurs widely but infrequently over much of Europe and into Siberia.

Irish distribution

Recorded from Ireland in Coe (1953). C. chrysocoma is an infrequent species in Ireland, but not as yet threatened. This species is not compatible with general land surface drainage, so current trends in intensification of use of farmland can be expected to lead to its decrease.

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.

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