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DIPTERA REPORT 2017 PETER VINCENT The role of a county recorder is very much whatever you make of it. As Suffolk diptera recorder, in addition to the collection and identification of specimens, both of my own, those sent to me and those from images emailed to me (please note, many species of dipterans cannot be identified from photographs), verification of records and writing this report, I try to act as a public relations agent for flies in Suffolk. Flies tend to get a bad press especially compared with bees, although flies are known to be the more important pollinator. As well as providing an essential role in the biological control of pest species on crops, and decomposition of vegetable and animal matter, flies provide an abundant aquatic and terrestrial source of food for many birds and fish. I was able to attend a number of Bioblitzes, run by a number of organisations, this summer and this allowed me to state the case for flies and the crucial function they perform in the ecosystem. Likewise, a ‘count the number of flies in jar’ competition at my local village fair provided another opportunity to put across the value of flies. Bioblitzes, apart from the public engagement process, are about collecting records and at Flatford Mill, Minsmere and also at Brandon Country Park I managed to collect some interesting species. At the RSPB Minsmere bioblitz in May, as well as the nationally scarce soldierfly (Stratiomyidae) Odontomyia argentata (Fabricius, 1794) I collected the Dolichopodid Syntormon silvianum Parvu, 1989. This species has been confused hitherto with Syntormon monile (Haliday in Walker, 1851); and was added to the British list by Hodge in 2003. In June at Field Studies Council Flatford Mill I found the first Suffolk nationally scarce Dolichopodid Argyra ilonae Gosseries, 1988. Despite the unfavourable weather Brandon Country Park proved to be quite productive. The undoubted star of the show was the hoverfly Eriozona syrphoides (Fallén, 1817). Syrphids are the most recorded family of flies so it is not often that a new hoverfly for the county is found, especially a large colourful hairy one. This species was first discovered in Britain in the late 1950s, with records most frequent in the north and west and a scatter of recent records further south. It appears to be associated with conifer plantations so its appearance at Brandon in the centre of Forestry Commissions’ Thetford Forest makes sense. Additionally, two further species, the Calliphorid Melinda viridicyanea (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830), and the Tachanid Ceranthia abdominalis (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) collected from Brandon Country Park are potentially the first records for Suffolk. This summer I was sent a number of samples of flies collected by Dave Basham from Purdis Heath SSSI near Ipswich. Compared to many habitats heathland has a scarcity of flies but those that are present are often of interest. Many of the species that develop within dry heathland are predators or parasitoids of other invertebrates, cleptoparasites, or inquilines of bees and wasps. Large assemblages of ground nesting bees and wasps can result in good suite of flies particularly Sarcophagids of the
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satellite fly genera Metopia, Senotainia and Miltogramma (Stubbs & Falk, 2010). As this is a particularly under recorded family not just in Suffolk but Britain as a whole, the Sarcophagidae I received from Purdis Heath were of particular interest. The satellite flies Miltogramma germari Meigen, 1824, Senotainia conica (Fallén, 1810) and Metopia argyrocephala (Meigen, 1824) have been rarely recorded in Suffolk with only one or two records each. Satellite flies are so called because adult females trail behind potential hosts at a distance of 15-30 cm, often keeping the distance within a very narrow range as though tethered to the wasp (like a satellite is ‘tethered’ to its parent body). Of the larger true Sarcophaga species, S. vicina Macquart, 1835 seems possibly a new record for Suffolk and S. vagans Meigen, 1826 has only one record in East Suffolk (VC 25) as has S. aratrix Pandellé, 1896. Five species of robberflies (Asilidae) were also collected from the site, including the heathland specialist Choerades marginatus (Linnaeus, 1758) - this record only being the second from East Suffolk although there are a few more from West Suffolk (VC26). The Tachanid Cistogaster globosa (Fabricius, 1775) until recently was quite a rare species, restricted to Southern England but its range seems to be increasing. It is a parasatoid of shieldbugs of the genus Aelia (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae), although only A. acuminata (Linnaeus, 1758) is known from Britain. (Raper & Smith, 2002). In addition to species mentioned above, some uncommon Suffolk species I have recorded in the last year include, the Calliphorids, Bellardia vulgaris (RobineauDesvoidy, 1830), the Dolichopodids Argyra perplexa Becker, 1918, Dolichopus excisus Loew, 1859, D. laticola Verrall, 1904, D. signifer Haliday in Curtis, 1837 and D. vitripennis Meigen, 1824, the Empids, Chelipoda vocatoria (Fallén, 1816), Empis nigripes Fabricius, 1794, E. nigritarsis Meigen, 1804 and Rhamphomyia pilifer Meigen 1838, the Ephydrid Pelina similis Papp, 1974, the Heleomyzid Morpholeria ruficornis (Meigen, 1830), the Hippoboscid Crataerina pallida (Olivier in Latreille, 1812), the Lauxaniid, Meiosimyza platycephala (Loew, 1847), the Limoniid Erioptera griseipennis Meigen, 1838, Gnophomyia viridipennis (Gimmerthal, 1847) and Trimicra pilipes (Fabricius, 1787), the Muscids, Graphomya minor Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 and Helina confinis (Fallén, 1825), the Sarcophagid, Blaesoxipha plumicornis (Zetterstedt, 1859), the Scathophagid Cordilura pubera (Linnaeus, 1758), the Tachanids Actia infantula (Zetterstedt, 1844), Brachicheta strigata (Meigen, 1824) and Nemorilla floralis (Fallén, 1810), and the Xylomyid Solva marginata (Meigen, 1820). These flies have rarely or have not been recorded in Suffolk (VC 25 and 26) to the best of my knowledge, although the Suffolk species list is far from exhaustive. The record of Dolichopus laticola is particularly pleasing as this is now a second site in Suffolk for this BAP species, following the discovery of this species at Walberswick in 2010 (Vincent, 2011). D. laticola is one of only five of the thirty-five species of diptera listed on the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) found in Suffolk.
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References Raper, C. & Smith, M. (2002). Recent records of Cistogaster globosa (Fabricius, 1775) and Phasia barbifrons Girschner, 1887) in Berkshire. Dipterists Digest (second series) 9: 65–66. Stubbs, A. E & Falk, S. (2010). Lowland Heath, Bog and Mire. In: Chandler, P. J. (ed.) A Dipterist’s Handbook (2nd Edition) Orpington, Kent. The Amateur Entomologists’ Society. Pp. 200–202. Vincent, P. J. (2011). Some notes on Dolichopus laticola (Verrall) (Diptera, Dolichopodidae) a UK BAP Priority Fly; the first recent record of this species outside Norfolk. Dipterists Digest (second series) 18: 199–203.
Peter Vincent Pennyfields, Rectory Road, Middleton. IP17 3NW
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