Species details

Meligramma euchromum (Kowarz, 1885)

Nomenclature

Syrphus euchromus Kowarz in Coe (1953), Epistrophe euchroma (Kowarz) in Stubbs & Falk (1983).

Biology

The larvae of this genus are predaceous upon arboreal and scrub-dwelling aphids, and perhaps also on tall herbs. The precise predator prey relationship has yet to be established, however. Adults fly in May and June and can often be found on sun-lit leaves of Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus and Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastaneum. The adults have been recorded visiting the flowers of Blackthorn Prunus spinosa, Hawthorn Crataegus sp. and Wood Spurge Euphorbia amygdaloides. There is a record of a specimen bred out from a larva found in a suburban garden in south London.

Distribution

This is a largely southern species that occurs as far north as South Cumbria, South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Anglesey. There are post-1990 records from Dorset, North and South Hampshire, South Wiltshire, West Gloucestershire, Surrey, East Kent, Middlesex, Derbyshire and West Lancashire.

Status

Lower Risk (Nationally scarce) - Ball & Morris, 2010. Rare (RDB3) - Falk, 1991 and Shirt, 1987.