Chrysotoxum verralli Collin, 1940

Identification

Identification difficulty = 3. according to Ball & Morris, 2024¹

Synonymy

Split from C. octomaculatum by Collin (1940)². Early records of C. octomaculatum are likely to prove to be this species.

Biology

This species has been reared from larvae found in a nest of the black ant Lasius niger. Pupae have been found under a stone, and females seen ovipositing, close to the entrances of ant nests. It is found on well drained soils usually near the shelter of trees or hedgerows. Typical situations include grassy places in scrub, woodland rides and glades or on the fringes of heathland. They are often seen resting on vegetation, and occasionally visit flowers such as bramble Rubus sp. and Dog Rose Rosa canina.

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

This is primarily a southern and eastern species that occupies a climate envelope that is largely hot in the summer and cold and dry in the winter.

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.