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Ferdinandea ruficornis (Fabricius, 1775)

Identification

Identification difficulty = 4. microscope_icon camera_icon_question according to Ball & Morris, 20241

Biology

The larva filter feeds on yeasts and bacteria in sap runs on a variety of trees. F. ruficornis is thought to be one of a suite of species that are to some degree associated with the workings of the Goat Moth Cossus cossus, but it is unlikely that this is an obligate association as the fly does occur at localities where the moth has not been found. Adults are very difficult to locate, but are occasional flower visitors.

Flight period

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

Status

Lower risk (Nationally scarce) - Ball & Morris, 20022. Notable - Falk, 19913. Vulnerable (RDB2) - Shirt, 19874.

Distribution

This is largely an English species with just a single record from Wales and few Scottish records. It is mainly southern, almost entirely confined to a line between the Humber and the Ribble, but with a single outlier in North Yorkshire. Many records come from Malaise traps. Distribution map for Ferdinandea ruficornis

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 Ferdinandea ruficornis

  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. ↩

  3. Falk, S. (1991). A review of the scarce and threatened flies of Great Britain. ( No. 39). Research and Survey in Nature Conservation (pp. 1–194). Peterborough: NCC. ↩

  4. Shirt, D. (Ed.). (1987). Red Data Books: 2. Insects. Peterborough: NCC. ↩