Taxonomy
Doros profuges | Phantom Hoverfly
Distribution
Species Biology
Preferred environment
Deciduous forest; Quercus/Fraxinus (both mature and scrub) and Corylus scrub, on well-drained sites which have been forested for a considerable period of time; well-drained, ancient, unimproved pasturage invaded by scrub (including Rubus and Taxus). Until very recently the two males collected from flowers in the vicinity of Carran (Co.Clare), more than 35 years ago, remained the only known Irish material of this large and enigmatic hoverfly. The environs of Carran make it reasonably clear that it must have occurred there either in ash woodland/unimproved drumlin grassland or hazel scrub/limestone pavement grassland. Either of these situations would be compatible with what is known of the ecology of D. profuges elsewhere. Very recently, Tom Gittings has rediscovered this species in Ireland (T. Gittings, pers.comm.), recording it by Malaise from three sites in Co. Clare. One of these sites is in the Burren. The other two sites are on the edge of the Burren, in south-east Co. Clare, and both have areas of hazel scrubwood nearby. However, D. profuges is not a species of improved grassland and does not occur in the habitats present in the typical farmland landscape of green fields and hedges. Neither would it be present in conifer plantations, gardens or parks.
Adult habitat & habits
May be primarily arboreal, and is certainly elusive where it occurs. In more open situations, adults fly along the edge of scrub, often around Rubus fruticosus agg. thickets, on which they settle. Males may hover at 1-2m over tracks. The following account of the behaviour of a male of Doros profuges that was caught and then immediately released was supplied by Barry Brigden (pers.comm.): upon release, the male Doros flew slowly, in a zig-zag fashion, just above grass height, to a patch of knee-high bramble (Rubus fruticosus) where it settled on a leaf, exposed in full view. There it proceeded to move its abdomen slowly up and down and at one point seemed almost to be standing on its head. It then proceeded to rub its hind legs against its abdomen, and then its hind legs together, presumably a cleaning process. It then continued to wave its abdomen, performed a little dance by moving forward slightly, then backwards and from side to side, followed by turning a complete circle on the spot. It then rubbed its front legs together. This whole process took about a minute. The fly then flew about 10cm to an adjacent bramble leaf and rested for about ten seconds before flying on to another leaf, where it indulged in more abdomen waving, dancing and twirling. This happened six times before it flew from the bramble patch on to a blade of grass about 45cm away where it stayed for a couple of seconds, then back to a leaf of the same bramble patch, the abdomen waving and dancing continuing. Another flight of about 50cm took it to the leaf of a low growing plant (species unknown) where it stayed briefly and, after rubbing its front legs together, again flew back to the bramble patch. On the bramble it again changed leaves a few times with yet more dancing and waving. Suddenly, it flew off to a hazel (Corylus) shrub about 3m away and alighted on an exposed leaf an, where it once more danced and waved its abdomen. Then, with no warning, it took off at speed, flying low down and in a direct line towards the back of the glade. This flight was in direct contrast to the slow, lazy zig-zag flight observed earlier.
Flight period
End May/June, and on into July particularly at higher altitudes. Larva: features of the puparium are described and illustrated by Speight (1988c), including distinctions from the puparium of D. destillatorius (Mik); the larva is believed to be an ant commensal, probably with Lasius fuliginosus (Lat.). A female has been observed ovipositing at the base of a Fraxinus sapling.
Flowers visited
Umbellifers, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, Filipendula, Rubus.
Irish reference specimens
In the collections of BM
Determination
Speight (1988c); this species appears in most European literature as D. conopseus (Fab.). The male terminalia are figured by Vockeroth (1969). The adult insect is illustrated in colour by Stubbs and Falk (1983) and Torp (1994).
Distribution
World distribution(GBIF)
Southern Norway and southern Finland south to central Spain; from Ireland east through most of central and southern Europe and on through Eurasia to the Pacific coast (Japan); also recorded from various parts of China.
Irish distribution
Added to the Irish list by Speight et al (1975), under the name conopseus (L.). In Ireland it is found only in the Burren in Co. Clare. Its occurrence in the farmed landscape of south-east Co. Clare shows that D. profuges can persist in landscapes where the semi-natural habitat is significantly fragmented. Doros could occur elsewhere in and around the Burren yet remain unrecorded. It has a short flight period and is notoriously erratic in its appearances. Discovery of a large, flightless bush cricket in the Burren for the first time, as recently as 1997 (Speight, 1999a) indicates the scale of this problem - if such an insect could occur in the Burren unknown till now, D. profuges could well be more widely distributed there than is currently recognised. The recent records suggest that Malaise trapping is an effective, if laborious, method of detecting this species. But until and unless more records of D. profuges accumulate, to show it really is more frequent and widely distributed than appears at present, it should be included in any national listing of insects requiring protection.
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.