Species details

Eristalis cryptarum (Fabricius, 1794)

Nomenclature

Eoseristalis cryptarum (Fabricius, 1794) in Levy & Levy (1994).

Biology

The larvae of this genus are of the "long-tailed", aquatic type. Females have been observed ovipositing into crevices in a fresh cowpat and into saturated peaty mud in a well-trampled seepage. Typical habitat includes a mixture of open water and emergent vegetation comprising Bog-bean Menyanthes trifoliata, sedges Carex and rushes Juncus, as well as mosaics of seepages with scattered sallow Salix sp. scrub. Populations at individual sites seem to be small.

Distribution

Historically known from the heathland bogs of the New Forest as well as from a scatter of sites in Dorset (especially Studland Heath), Devon, South Somerset and Cornwall. There are numerous records for the period between 1900 and the 1930s, after which an obvious decline occurred. The last record from the New Forest was in 1951. There were two records from south Dartmoor in the 1960s and one in 1978, after which there were no records until August 1993. Despite considerable survey effort, it has been found in only 4 contiguous hectads within a restricted area of Dartmoor in recent times.

Status

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED - Ball & Morris, 2010. Vulnerable (RDB2) - Falk, 1991 and Shirt, 1987.