Taxonomy
Cheilosia latifrons
Distribution
Species Biology
Preferred environment
Open ground; unimproved, non-calcareous grassland, usually on poorly drained sites; also coastal dune systems. In Ireland, as elsewhere in Atlantic parts of Europe, this insect occurs in a number of rather different situations, but is far from ubiquitous. Its ecological amplitude would certainly imply that C. latifrons could be a polyphyletic entity. Irish localities from which C. latifrons has been recorded are mostly unimproved, poorly-drained pasture, whether edging midland bogs or in coastal dune systems or on the karst limestone. Discovery of the larval host plant(s) would be vey helpful in understanding the ecology of this species - there is some evidence to suggest that one plant host may be Leontodon autumnalis, though this association is yet to be confirmed. The use of Plantago and Luzula flowers by the adults could also have some bearing on the distribution of C. latifrons, if the female is to any extent dependent upon the pollen of these plants as a protein source for egg maturation. These plants are not generally visited by other Cheilosia species. C. latifrons does not persist in improved or intensively-used grassland, and so is absent from the standard farmland landscape of green fields and hedges. It is a largely anthropophobic species, absent not only from improved grassland, but also from conifer plantations, gardens and parks.
Adult habitat & habits
Low-flying, at the level of grasses etc., among which it settles.
Flight period
April (March in southern Europe) to September, with peaks in June/July and September. Larva: undescribed; in all probability, this insect uses a range of different plant species as larval food-plants. Schmid and Grossmann (1996a) present evidence of egg-laying by C. latifrons on Leontodon autumnalis, suggesting this may be one larval host plant. Reemer et al (2009) also cite L. hispidus as a larval foodplant of this syrphid.
Flowers visited
Yellow Compositae, especially Senecio and Taraxacum; Origanum, Ranunculus; also anaemophilus flowers such as Luzula and Plantago.
Irish reference specimens
In the collections of NMI and UM
Determination
This species is referred to in much recent literature under the name C. intonsa where it appears as C. intonsa (Loew). The adult insect is illustrated in colour by Torp (1994). The surstyli of the male terminalia are figured by Stubbs and Falk (2002).
Distribution
World distribution(GBIF)
Fenno-Scandia south to Iberia and from Ireland eastwards through central and southern Europe to Turkey and on into European parts of Russia and western Siberia. Also in N Africa (Kassebeer,1998). It occurs widely in Europe, its range extending eastwards into Asiatic parts of Siberia.
Irish distribution
Given as occurring in Ireland in Coe (1953), under the name C. intonsa. Today, C. latifrons occurs in most parts of Ireland, but is by no means frequent. It would not be regarded as under threat either in Ireland or elsewhere.
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.