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Cheilosia variabilis (Panzer, 1798)

Identification

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

Biology

The larva tunnels the roots of Common Figwort Scrophularia nodosa and Water Figwort S. auriculata. Adults are usually found in damp woodland rides or similar lush, wooded locations, and have been seen visiting the flowers of Scrophularia sp. The males, which are distinctive because of their large size, elongate form and long, dark wings, are commonly found basking on sun-lit leaves.

Flight period

The following plots show the number of unique records per week that were not reported to be of eggs, larvae or pupae.

Distribution

Most records are from sites below an altitude of 200 metres. This species occurs widely in lowland locations but is evidently a mainly southerly species that is most abundant east a line between the Tees and the Severn.

Trends

The following plots show the Frescalo TFactor vs year and a map of the rescaled frequency (all records) for the species. For an explanation see here.