Melangyna barbifrons
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - true fly (Diptera) > Hoverfly |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Melangyna barbifrons |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Fallén, 1817) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Ball & Morris, 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Despite old records scattered across England, Wales and Scotland, it seems to have declined substantially, with few recent records from anywhere in the UK (and possibly only 6 post-2000 records for England). |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | One of the most poorly understood hoverflies in Britain with no well-known localities that produce regular records. It is not even known what habitat it prefers beyond a basic association with woodland. It is not thought that a targeted survey for this species would glean much information given its highly sporadic nature. Few if any detailed surveys by professional or experienced amateur surveys have detected it in recent years. It may not produce particularly permanent populations. |
| 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: | Management to promote the presence of willows (especially Goat and Grey) within woodland settings to serve the spring-flying adults will be of benefit |
Species Assessment
Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.
Key Actions
No Key Actions Defined
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.