Dolichopus agilis
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - true fly (Diptera) > Long-legged fly |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Not Relevant) [VU(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: | Dolichopus agilis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Meigen, 1824 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Drake, 2018 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Rarely recorded but widespread in the past, records would indicate that the range is contracting and populations declining. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Previous records are widespread; the only recent records (n=2) from East Anglia; North West Norfolk. Known habitats are variable with no defined ecological requirements. Without a concentrated recording effort this is difficult to quantify accurately |
| 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: | Records from dry grassland, dry heath, wetlands including fens and bogs, dry woods and coastal dunes could indicate that improvements and expansion of these habitats could be indirectly beneficial |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Life history factor/s |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | The biology of the species is unknown, possibly larvae develop in dry to damp soil. Historically, it seems to have had a limited distribution; it could be naturally rare or unknown factors and changes in the flies habitats could be causing it to become even rarer. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Tailored surveying of known past sites to confirm distribution/populations.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Most recent records from: NW Norfolk, Gunhill Marsh TF856456; Deepdale Farm TF809432 and Devon Brackett's Coppice ST517070
Comments: Surveys of potential sites both to establish whether still present but also to study where possible the ecology/biology of any population.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Study of the biology and habitat needs at sites where populations are confirmed in an attempt to ascertain whether more targeted actions can be implemented to support these populations.
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Most recent records from: NW Norfolk, Gunhill Marsh TF856456; Deepdale Farm TF809432 and Devon Brackett's Coppice ST517070
Comments: Needed to allow further surveys in potential sites and to allow more targeted approaches to protect existing populations.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Records from dry grassland, dry heath, wetlands including fens and bogs, dry woods and coastal dunes could indicate that improvements and expansion of these habitats could be indirectly beneficial if populations can be tied to specific sites and areas. If more information on biology and precise habitat requirements can be ascertained then more targeted actions could be implemented.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: NW Norfolk, Gunhill Marsh TF856456; Deepdale Farm TF809432 and Devon Brackett's Coppice ST517070 or any further sites that are identified.
Comments: Apologies if a little vague but this does rely on confirmation of the exact sites that populations are present.
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.