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Eriozona syrphoides (Fallén, 1817)

Identification

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

Biology

The larva is aphidophagous. It is usually associated with mature conifers (Abies, Picea). In Czechoslovakia, it has been found feeding on the aphid Cinara pineae in established (40 year old) Picea plantations. Adults are usually found visiting flowers along rides or edges in conifer plantations, but they have also been found in deciduous woodland. Males hover in dappled sunshine beneath the canopy.

Flight period

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

Status

Lower Risk (Nationally scarce) - Ball & Morris, 20142.

Distribution

This species was first reported from Snowdonia in 1968, but an earlier specimen (from Lancaster in 1957) was subsequently located. Recent records are widely scattered throughout northern and western Britain. The species is probably spreading in conifer plantations and a scatter of southern records, including one from East Sussex, show how this species is slowly advancing southwards. dotmap

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. trend

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

  2. 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. ↩