Species Account for Pherbellia dorsata

Species text
This is a rare snail killing fly with widely scattered records in southern England as north as Lincolnshire and the southern half of Wales. The status has been revised from RDB3 (Shirt 1987). About 35 post 1960 sites are known, the majority being in East Anglia or the East Midlands (Falk, 1991a). It is found in permanent, freshwater habitats both shaded and open, inland and coastal. Seasonally fluctuating water levels may be of importance. The larvae develop as parasitoids of the aquatic snail Planorbis planorbis (other species including terrestrial ones have been attacked in the laboratory). It is threatened by the drainage of wetland areas for agriculture, coastal development or intensive forestry; complete or extensive clearance of marginal vegetation from water edges such as through river improvement schemes and the ditching of streams; pollution such as agricultural run-off; mis-management of water levels with a loss of breeding sites and subsequent scrub invasion (Falk, op. cit.). References

Habitats

Recorded management for locations with Pherbellia dorsata

Recorded substrate and hydrology for locations with Pherbellia dorsata

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