Clubbed Big-headed Fly (Dorylomorpha clavifemora)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - true fly (Diptera) > Fly |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Dorylomorpha clavifemora |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Coe, 1966 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Only four records exist since 1990 from Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | The biology is unknown beyond the fact that the records come from fen and marsh habitats. The Cambridgeshire site is Chippenham Fen which is already managed to maintain water levels and distinct habitats between compartments. Unpublished work may be available to NE |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Maintaining any fen or wetland areas outside of the known sites, protecting surrounding areas from abstraction or development that may affect the sites. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 1. Taxonomy established |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Extinction debt |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Very little is known about the species, any records are coincidental; protecting fen and marsh areas seems to be the most sensible approach. Surveying would be difficult, the fly appears to be naturally scarce and the Family itself rarely seems to appear in survey samples. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Pursue the 2014 Buglife contract work which pointed at Delphax pulchellus or Cephalops, or Conomelus anceps as possible hosts with material sent to UCLAN. Funding was not available to finish this work, but see if the material is still at UCLAN and get it sequenced against the reference fly sequence.
Action targets: 1. Taxonomy established
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: In conjunction with action 1, seek new eDNA sequences for this fly
Action targets: 1. Taxonomy established
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Once host is established, seek an understanding of the host ecology and habitat uses and food plants
Action targets: 1. Taxonomy established
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: sites in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk where it has been previously recorded
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.