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Callicera aurata (Rossi, 1790)

Identification

Identification difficulty = 2. magnifier_icon camera_icon_question according to Ball & Morris, 20241

Synonymy

Callicera aenea (Fabricius, 1777) in Coe(1953)2, Kloet & Hincks (1976)3 and Stubbs & Falk (1983)4 see Speight (1991).

Biology

The larva is a filter-feeder of microbes in water-filled rot-holes of Beech Fagus and Birch Betula and probably other tree species. Adults are rarely encountered, but have been recorded from a variety of flowers, including Hawthorn Crataegus, Cotoneaster, species of Scabious Scabiosa, umbellifers such as Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium and Ivy Hedera helix.

Flight period

The following plots show the number of unique records per week excluding those reported to be of immature stages. Phenology plots for Callicera aurata

Status

Lower Risk (Nationally scarce) - Ball & Morris, 20145. Rare (RDB3) - Falk, 19916. Vulnerable (RDB2) - Shirt, 19877.

Distribution

This is primarily a southern species that appears to be getting commoner. Most records are of single individuals but there have been occasional reports of several individuals occurring at the same time. The majority of records are from the wider countryside but records from Wolverhampton suggest that it does occur in urban locations too. There are outlying records from Cumbria and a record from Dunfermlin in Scotland (Little & Rotheray, 2007)8. Seems to have become more frequent and widespread since 2000. Distribution map for Callicera aurata

Trends

The following plots show the Frescalo TFactor vs year and a map of the rescaled frequency (all records) for the species.Trend plots for Callicera aurata

  1. Ball, S., & Morris, R. (2024). Hoverflies of Britain and Ireland. WILDGuides (3rd ed.). Oxford: Princeton University Press. ↩

  2. Coe, R. (1953). Diptera: Syrphidae. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, 10(1), 1–98. ↩

  3. Kloet, G., & Hinks, W. (1976). A check list of British insects. 2nd Ed. Part 5: Diptera and Siphonaptera. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, 11, 1–139. ↩

  4. Stubbs, A., & Falk, S. (1983). British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide (1st ed.). Reading: BENHS. ↩

  5. Ball, S., & Morris, R. (2014). A review of the scarce and threatened flies of Great Britain. Part 6: Syrphidae. ( No. 9). Species status (pp. 1–130). Peterborough: JNCC. ↩

  6. Falk, S. (1991). A review of the scarce and threatened flies of Great Britain. ( No. 39). Research and Survey in Nature Conservation (pp. 1–194). Peterborough: NCC. ↩

  7. Shirt, D. (Ed.). (1987). Red Data Books: 2. Insects. Peterborough: NCC. ↩

  8. Little, S., & Rotheray, G. (2007). Callicera aurata (Rossi, 1790) (Diptera, Syrphidae) new to Scotland. Dipterists Digest (second series), 14, 73. ↩