Taxonomy

Cheilosia illustrata

Distribution

Species Biology

Preferred environment

Deciduous forest and hedgerows; pasture and meadows, including montane pasture within sheltering woodland. There are no obvious differences between the general ecology of this species in Ireland and elsewhere. Its frequency in Ireland reflects that of one of its known plant hosts, Heracleum. Open areas and tracksides in humid deciduous forest up to the altitude of natural Picea forests would be typical for this species in Europe. It can also occur in the standard farmland landscape of green fields and hedges, not infrequently persisting along field margins or road verges, making it to a significant extent an anthropophilic species.

Adult habitat & habits

Glades, tracksides and clearings; along hedges; pastures and meadows.

Flight period

May/ September. Larva: larva and puparium described and figured by Rotheray (1999a). This species has been bred from Pastinaca sativa roots (bred specimen in the collections of the National Museum of Ireland) and also from the expanded rootstock of Heracleum (Rotheray, 1999a). The female has been observed egg-laying on Heracleum, (Doczkal, 1996b). The species overwinters as a puparium.

Flowers visited

A wide range of white Umbelliferae, but very frequent on the flowers of Heracleum; Matricaria, Prunus, Rubus, Sambucus.

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), Colyer and Hammond (1951), Stubbs and Falk (1983), Torp (1984, 1994), van der Goot (1986) and Kormann (1988). The surstyli of the male terminalia are figured by Stubbs and Falk (2002).

Distribution

World distribution(GBIF)

Fenno-scandia to Spain and Ireland to western parts of Siberia.

Irish distribution

Given as occurring in Ireland in Coe (1953). In Ireland, this is one of the most generally distributed and common Cheilosia species. It is also very frequent in adjacent parts of the continent and occurs widely in Europe in general. However, it is endemic to Europe.

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.

Images