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Criorhina berberina (Fabricius, 1805)

Identification

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

Synonymy

Matsumyia berberina in Bot & van de Meutter (2023)2.

Biology

The larva has been found in rotten wood in cavities in the trunk of Birch Betula sp. and decaying roots of Beech Fagus sylvatica, but is probably associated with a wider range of deciduous species. Adults are usually found in woodland with over-mature trees and are often seen visiting flowers or settled on sun-lit foliage. Males patrol flowers and flowering shrubs. Females can be found flying around the base of stumps and dead or dying trees.

Flight period

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

Distribution

Widely distributed in England and Wales, extending north to the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Thereafter there are scattered old records further north and a recent record from the Moray Firth. Distribution map for Criorhina berberina

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 Criorhina berberina

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

  2. Bot, S., & van de Meutter, F. (2023). Hoverflies of Britain and North-Western Eupope. Bloomsbury Wildlife. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ↩