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Chrysotoxum arcuatum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Identification

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

Biology

The larva has been found feeding on root aphids associated with ant nests. They are not easy to find, and the best time to search for them is at night (Rotheray, pers. comm.). Occurs widely in upland and moorland locations in unimproved grassland with scrub and in grassy openings in woodland. Adults fly low among ground vegetation and visit a wide range of flowers in sheltered situations.

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

A strictly northern and western species, locally frequent north of a line from the Severn to the Humber, although there is a confirmed record from the Brecklands of Norfolk.

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.