Royal Splinter Cranefly (Gnophomyia elsneri)

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: Gnophomyia elsneri
UKSI Recommended Authority: Starý, 1983
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: First discovered in 1973, there is a single record from 1986, two records from 1999 and another from 2014/2015 from Windsor Forest in Berkshire.
Question 2: Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions?
Response: No
Justification: The fly is only known from one English site that is already managed for Saproxylic insects; the species is associated with wet wood mould in decaying beech (Fagus sylvatica)
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: As per previous, the management policy is in place for saproxylic insects which would be of benefit to the species if the population still exists.

Species Assessment

Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.

Key Actions

No Key Actions Defined

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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.