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Pelecocera scaevoides (Fallén, 1817)

Identification

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

Synonymy

Previously known as Chamaesyrphus scaevoides, this genus has been sunk in Pelecocera (Speight, 2017)2.

Biology

Nothing is known of the larval stages of this species. Adults are usually swept from heathy vegetation along footpaths and ride margins in coniferous woodland. Most sites involve Caledonian pine forests but some are plantations of non-native species. Adults have been observed visiting Tormentil Potentilla erecta and Ragwort Senecio jacobaea flowers along the edges of such paths.

Flight period

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

Status

Lowe risk (Nationally scarce) - Ball & Morris, 20143. Rare (RDB3) - Falk, 19914 and Shirt, 19875.

Distribution

Occurs widely across the Highlands around the Cairngorms, and through Ross & Cromarty. Adults can be relatively abundant where it occurs. Distribution map for Pelecocera scaevoides

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 Pelecocera scaevoides

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

  2. Speight, M. (2017). Species accounts of European Syrphidae ( No. 97). yrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae (Diptera) (p. 294). Dublin: Syrph the Net publications. Retrieved from https://pollinators.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/StN-2017-Species-Accounts.pdf ↩

  3. 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. ↩

  4. 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. ↩

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