Taxonomy
Melanogaster aerosa
Distribution
Species Biology
Preferred environment
Wetland; acid fen and valley bog lagg, and flushes, pools and small streams in moorland. As elsewhere, M. aerosa is a strictly wetland insect in Ireland. It occurs in both fen and bog, in association with oligotrophic water bodies, usually pools or small streams. It is characteristic of poor fen and transition mire, can also occur in rich fen and in raised bog is primarily found with pools around the edge of the bog. In blanket bog it may be found with mineral-rich flushes and pools and along streams. It does not occur in bog pools per se. The closely-similar M. parumplicata would be expected to occur in Ireland, but has not been found here yet. Its ecology is somewhat different, and although M. parumplicata can occur in wetland (aapamire and calcareous fen) it is also associated with unpolluted ground-water springs in grassland and woodland. General land-surface drainage and grassland improvement, are inimical to the survival of M. aerosa, as is eutrophication of surface water. It is an anthropophobic insect both in Ireland and elsewhere.
Adult habitat & habits
Flies among dense fen vegetation, usually close to water.
Flight period
May to September, with peaks in June and August. Larva: described and figured by Maibach and Goeldlin (1994), who also provide means of distinguishing this larva from that of M. hirtella; to be found close to water, beneath the surface of semi-liquid mud heavily enriched by peat, in the vicinity of plant roots, where there is almost no water movement.
Flowers visited
White umbellifers; Cirsium, Hieracium, Leontodon.
Irish reference specimens
In the collections of NMI and UM
Determination
Bartsch et al (2009b); Maibach et al (1994b). This species appears in recent literature under the name Chrysogaster macquarti (Loew), which has proved to be a composite taxon in which M. aerosa and M. parumplicata were confused. The most reliable way to distinguish these two species is by means of features of the male terminalia, as figured in Maibach et al (1994b). Bartsch et al (2009b) introduce additional key features for the separation of females of M. aerosa and M. parumplicata. M. aerosa is illustrated in colour by Bartsch et al (2009b) and Haarto & Kerppola (2007).
Distribution
World distribution(GBIF)
Irish distribution
Recorded as occurring in Ireland in Coe (1953), as Chrysogaster macquarti (Loew). Following revision of this species complex by Maibach et al (1994), re-examination of Irish material demonstrates that it is M. aerosa, rather than the closely-related M. parumplicata, that occurs here. The Irish distribution of this insect is centred on the midlands and the west of the island. Away from protected sites, M. aerosa is becoming difficult to find and, although it could not yet be classified as threatened in Ireland, if present rates of loss of habitat continue it can only be expected that this species will become threatened here within the next decades. Indeed, M. aerosa is probably more frequent in Ireland now than it is anywhere else in Europe, so any significant decrease in its frequency in Ireland has potential implications to the status of this species in general.
Distribution frequency in Ireland
Temporal change
Records submitted to Data Centre in 2024
The following map is interactive. If you would prefer to view it full screen then click here.
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.