Sphegina verecunda Collin, 1937
Identification
Identification difficulty = 3. 
according to Ball & Morris, 20241
Biology
The larva has been found in the exudates from a sap run on Elm Ulmus. It is found in wet shady situations in woodland and carr. Adults are found in shade, or dappled sunshine, usually close to wet areas or streams, and are occasionally found visiting flowers.
Flight period
The following plots show the number of unique records per week excluding those reported to be of immature stages.
Status
Was listed as 'Notable' by Falk, 19912, but dropped from this status by Ball & Morris, 20143 who consider it LOWER RISK.
Distribution
This is the scarcest member of the genus, with scattered records in the southern half of Britain, but a marked increase in frequency westwards. There are a few records from northern England and Scotland.
Trends
The following plots show the Frescalo TFactor vs year and a map of the rescaled frequency (all records) for the species.
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Ball, S., & Morris, R. (2024). Hoverflies of Britain and Ireland. WILDGuides (3rd ed.). Oxford: Princeton University Press. ↩
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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. ↩
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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. ↩