The Society for the study of flies (Diptera)

Do you feel that we should stop talking and rather start to help our threatened species? If yes, then please contact me – you might be able to help!

If you feel that you would like to work on a fly (Diptera) or a group of flies (Diptera) with BAP status or on RDB species (Diptera only), please contact me. You could adopt a species or a group of species and thus resolve some of the open questions about these species.

Possible tasks

You could visit known sites and observe the species. You might be able to solve questions like where do they breed, what is their preferred habitat etc. Another option is to monitor the species on known sites and try and find new sites. But please pass records / or failure to find the species on to the relevant recording scheme if one exists (check under Forum 'Recording Schemes'). Should this be a species without a recording scheme, you might wish to gather records and help refining the knowledge of their distribution.

Some BAP species are already being worked on and have lead partners coordinating the work. This project is not intended to duplicate on-going work, but to find people willing to take on additional tasks, to continue previous work or to work together with the lead partner. Also, as the co-ordinator of this project I will bother you from time to time to remind you to share your progress or problems encountered with other adopters or dipterists, so please let me know if you take up a species or group of species.

A list of BAP species and their crude distribution is attached to this text. If you would like to receive suggestions for a few RDB species in your area, please let me know and I will send you some. If you would like to search for species yourself, the Species Reviews (Diptera) might be of help. These include all fly species with conservation status and you can download two of the Species Reviews from the JNCC webpage (see: http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-2133), three more will be published hopefully later this year.

Please contact me if you feel you would like to work on a species. I will forward all the information I have gathered on the species to you or inform you where you can get hold of it (if it’s a report).

Must it be a BAP species?

No, you can also work on a fly species with RDB status and I will coordinate that as well. However, I might have to refer you to other dipterists for information on these.

Please don’t hesitate, our species need you and you don’t need to be an expert on them. Others are there to help!

Please help our threatened species by getting involved in their active conservation and adopt a species. I hope to hear from you soon.

Barbara Ismay
BAP and Conservation Officer, Co-ordinator of ‘Adopt a Species’, Dipterists Forum
e-mail: schultmay@insectsrus.co.uk or leave a message here.


BAP SPECIES AND THEIR CRUDE DISTRIBUTION

You can find more detail on the distribution of most BAP fly species on the NBN Gateway (see http://www.searchnbn.net/ ).

•    Amiota variegata, The Spotty Sap Fly (Drosophilidae)
    New Forest, Hampshire and Forest of Dean (Gloucestershire)

•    Asilus crabroniformis,  Hornet robberfly  (Asilidae)
    unimproved grassland and heath in southern England and 
                Wales

•    Asindulum nigrum, Fen Flower Gnat (Keroplatidae)
    Southern England and East Anglia 

•    Blera fallax,  Pine Hoverfly; this was called ‘a Hoverfly’ before
                (Syrphidae)
    native pine woods in Scotland (Speyside)

•    Bombylius minor,  Heath bee-fly (Bombyliidae)
    ENGLAND & ISLE OF MAN – Lowland sandy heathlands and acid
                coastal sand-dune systems with Calluna vulgaris in Southern
                England, and one site on the north coast of the Isle of  Man
                (IOM).

•    Botanophila fonsecai, Fonseca’s Dune Fly (Anthomyiidae)
    Only known from one highly threatened site in Scotland
                (Sutherland) beside a Caravan Park

•    Callicera spinolae,  Golden Hoverfly (Syrphidae)
    4 localities in East Anglia

•    Campsicnemus magius, Fancy-legged Fly (Dolichopodidae)
    Mainly coasts of southern England (Thames estuary)

•    Chrysotoxum octomaculatum,  Broken-banded Wasp-hoverfly
                (Syrphidae)
    ENGLAND – Lowland heathlands in central Southern England,
                Hampshire, Surrey, Dorset.

•    Cliorismia rustica,  Southern Silver Stiletto-fly (Therevidae)
    Unmodified rivers. Extensive sand and shingle bars: North
                East, North West and South East England, South Wales; Welsh
                distribution: 13 sites including 9 on the R. Usk and 3 on the R.
                Monnow   

•    Clusiodes geomyzinus, Pine Heart-Wood Fly (Clusiidae)
    Scottish Highlands, only two recent records

•    Dolichopus laticola, Broads Dolly-Fly (Dolichopodidae)
    Norfolk Broads

•    Dolichopus nigripes, Black-footed Dolly-Fly (Dolichopodidae)
    Bure Valley (Norfolk)

•    Doros profuges,  Phantom Hoverfly  (Syrphidae)
    Rare in England – scattered localities in the south-east and
                isolated sites in the south-west and north-west. On Mull in
                Scotland, but absent from Wales and Northern Ireland. 

•    Dorycera graminum,  Phoenix Fly (Ulidiidae) 
    Southern England: in recent years it has been recorded only
                from Kent, Essex, Oxford, Surrey and Worcestershire and most
                sites are unprotected and many are in the Thames Corridor.

•    Dorylomorpha clavifemora, Clubbed Big-headed Fly
                (Pipunculidae)
    East Norfolk (3 sites)

•    Empis limata, The Borders Dance-Fly (Empididae)
    Welsh / English borders of VC 35, 36 & VC 33

•    Eristalis cryptarum,  Bog hoverfly (Syrphidae)
    Dartmoor currently; previously south-west England   

•    Gnophomyia elsneri,  Royal Cranefly (Limoniidae)
    Windsor Forest; High Standing Hill area only   

•    Hammerschmidtia ferruginea,  Aspen Hoverfly (Syrphidae)
    Scotland: 8 metapopulations, all in NE Scotland, mostly in
                Strathspey.   

•    Idiocera sexguttata,  Six-spotted Cranefly (Limoniidae)
    Gower and New Forest

•    Lipara similis, Least Cigar-Gall Fly (Chloropidae)
    3 sites in East Anglia 

•    Lipsothrix ecucullata,  Scottish Yellow Splinter  (Limoniidae)
    C 15 sites in the Scottish Highlands and fringe.

•    Lipsothrix errans,  Northern Yellow Splinter (Limoniidae)
    Wales, northern England and Scotland

•    Lipsothrix nervosa,  Southern Yellow Splinter (Limoniidae)
    Mainly South England and southern Wales, scarcer in
                Midlands.  Some rare northerly records including Scotland

•    Lipsothrix nigristigma,  Scarce Yellow Splinter (Limoniidae)
    C. 20 sites in North Welsh borders , S Lancashire and Cumbria.

•    Lonchaea ragnari, The Large Birch Lance Fly (Lonchaeidae)
    Scottish Highlands

•    Myolepta potens,  Western Wood-vase Hoverfly (Syrphidae)
    Moccas Park, Herefordshire

•    Neoempheria lineola, Giant Wood-gnat (Mycetophilidae)
    New Forest, Cirencester Park

•    Odontomyia hydroleon,  Barred Green Colonel (Stratiomyidae)
    2 sites only; 1 in north Yorkshire and 1 in Ceredigion, west
                Wales

•    Phaonia jaroschewskii, Hairy Canary Fly (Muscidae)
    Thin scattering of sites in northern England plus New Forest
                and Burnham Beeches

•    Rhabdomastix japonica,  A River-shore Cranefly (Limoniidae)
    England, Scotland, Wales

•    Rhamphomyia hirtula, Mountain Dance-Fly (Empididae)
    Very high Scottish mountains in the Cairngorms Massif (above
                800 metres)

•    Salticella fasciata,  Dune Snail-killing Fly (Sciomyzidae)
    Coasts of Southern half of England and Wales: Norfolk (3
                sites), Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire

•    Thyridanthrax fenestratus,  Mottled Bee-fly  (Bombyliidae)
    ENGLAND – Lowland sandy heathlands below 90m in central
                Southern England only.