HOVER-FLIES IN ESSEX 87
Phalacrodira annulata Zett. (Syrphus annulatus of Coe)
VC 19. There is a single male of this rare species in HD, taken by
Harwood at Colchester on 27 May 1916.
P. punctulata Verrall (Syrphus punctulatus of Coe)
VC 19. An early spring species which may be overlooked. Colchester,
1914, 4 May 1928 (Harwood, in HD); Colchester, High Woods 19 May
1927 (Harwood, in HD); Hatfield Forest Marsh Reserve, a female at
sallow blossom 20 April 1971.
Xanthogramma citrofasciatum De Geer
VC 18, 19. Certainly the less common of the two species. Colchester,
1890, 1893 etc. (Harwood, in HD); Wivenhoe, June 1942 (J. Riley-Irving,
in BM); Harlow, flying very low over meadow by canal, 1 June 1963;
Eastwood, in old overgrown garden, 19 May 1972 (E. T. Levy).
X. pedissequum Harris 3 June-30 August
VC 18, 19. This beautiful species is common in Essex, though doubtless
often overlooked because of its peculiar habit of flying very close to the
ground. It has been seen feeding at flowers of Euonymus japonicus, Angelica
sylvestris and Sonchus oleraceus.
Doros conopseus F.
VC 18. This rare and beautiful insect has a special association with
Essex. Although it has been found from time to time in a number of places
scattered throughout the country, the first British record was from the
Essex marshes, and it has been known here for over 200 years.
Moses Harris, the London entomologist who was one of the first
naturalists to pay close attention to flies, found Doros at Tilbury towards
the end of the 18th century. We do not know the exact date, or even the
year, but a passage on page 81 of his Exposition of English Insects, first
published in 1776, reads 'Musca profuges... very scarce, as this is the only
one the author has yet seen. It was taken in Essex, near West Tilbury, in
July'. The description and the accompanying coloured illustration makes
it clear beyond any doubt that his Musca profuges was the very distinctive
fly now known as Doros conopseus.
Almost exactly a century later, G. H. Verrall took a male specimen at
Leigh-on-Sea on 18 June 1871. Incidentally Verrall (1901) writes of this
capture as though Moses Harris had also seen the species at Leigh: he may
not have realised how far Leigh is from Tilbury, but of course both places
are on the Thames marshes.
There is no further record until after the Second World War, but from
1949 onwards Doros has been found at Leigh on several occasions, always
only in ones or twos, and each time in almost the same place. Colyer and
Hammond (1951) record the finding of two males 'settled half-way down
reeds (Phragmites) with wings outspread' on 9 June 1949. On 7 June 1952
A. M. Low took a female flying round brambles (C. O. Hammond, pers.
comm.). On 11 June 1960 C. O. Hammond took a female which had
settled on long grass during a sunny spell after showers. Most recently, I