Paragus albifrons

[stuart]

Paragus albifrons (Fallén, 1817)

Nomenclature

• Paragus ? bicolor in Kloet & Hincks (1976)

Identification ease/difficulty: 4

Status

• Vulnerable in Falk (1991)
• Rare in Shirt (1987)

Sources of information

• Page 127, Pl. 1, fig 23 in Stubbs & Falk (1983)
• Map here and page 101 in Ball & Morris (2000)
• Page 188, Pl. 1, fig. 23 in Stubbs & Falk (2002)

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Species account from Provisional atlas of British hoverflies, Ball & Morris, 2000.

Paragus albifrons (Fallén, 1817)

Biology: The larvae feed on a range of ground layer and arboreal aphids and have been found on Cirsium arvense, Carduus and  Onopordon. Torp (1994) also mentions Onionis repens as a plant on which larvae have been found. Adults are secretive and hard to find, but have generally been taken in coastal localities, including flood embankments around grazing marsh and coastal shingle. Speight (1998) states that it is only active early in the morning or late in the evening, under warm conditions, and flies within stands of taller grasses etc., along the edges of paths and in clearings

Distribution: A rare species with very few records, these coming from the south coast between Dorset and Essex, with a 19th century record from near Ipswich, Suffolk. There are apparently inland specimens from Guildford (19th century) and Salisbury (1950) in the Hope Museum collection. The most recent records come from the Thames Marshes (in both Essex and Kent) and Hythe (Hampshire). This species was present on the Isle of Portland between 1890 and 1950, but recent attempts to re-locate it in this area have so far been unsuccessful

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Datasheet from the Review of Scarce and Threatened Diptera, Falk (1991).

PARAGUS ALBIFRONS (Fallen) VULNERABLE

DISTRIBUTION Scattered records in southern England (Devon, Wiltshire, Dorset, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk). The vast majority of records are coastal, though it is recorded well inland at sites in Wiltshire and Oxfordshire.

HABITAT Preferences unclear. Known sites include a grassy flood embankment adjacent to coastal levels and a shell beach with sparse vegetation.

ECOLOGY Larvae aphidophagous and abroad have been found on the thistle Cirsium arvense feeding on aphids. Adults recorded from May to August.

STATUS Infrequent and declining. Only three known post 1960 sites: Blackgrounds Marsh, Essex (1983) and two sites in North Kent. Habitat loss probably places this species in a vulnerable position. Status revised from RDB3 (Shirt 1987).

THREAT Main ones likely to be management of flood embankments, including raising height with fresh soil/sediment; coastal development and recreational pressure on beaches and sand or shingle areas nearby.

MANAGEMENT Maintain a full succession of vegetation types on coastal sites, paying special attention to the continuity of dry sparsely vegetated ground.