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Cornish Red Data (2009)

The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.

Urophora spoliata



Range & Status

Diptera: Tephritidae; occurs in southern Britain, in Cornwall, Isle of Wight and Hampshire (Falk, 1991).

Regional Distribution

VC1: SW71 1981, SW72 1980; VC2: SX19 1989, SX09 1989 and 1990; the Lizard sites are of international importance.

Habitat & Ecology

Associated species: Saw-wort Serratula tinctoria ; the larvae cause swelling and deformation of seed heads. Found on heathland and coastal grassland.

Threats

Loss of habitat by overgrazing and fire.

Conservation

The sites on The Lizard are within the National Nature Reserve and the site at Boscastle is on National Trust land.

also

Range & Status

Two population centres: the chalk downs of Wiltshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, and Cornwall. This species is thought to be endemic to Britain.

Regional Distribution

Discovered by Dave Sheppard at Goonhilly in 1980 and subsequently found to be

widespread on the Lizard heaths. Another population was discovered near Boscastle in 1989 (Alexander, 1991). It has proved to be widely scattered along the north coast. The Cornish sites are of international importance in view of its endemic status.

Habitat & Ecology

Occurs on tall and short heathland on Lizard, and on coastal grassland. The larvae develop in galls in the seed-heads of Saw-wort Serratula tinctoria .

Threats

Abandonment of grazing, with consequent sward coarsening and scrub development, but also heavy grazing which reduces flowering and causes trampling of any seed-heads. Deep burning of heaths by prolonged fire.

Conservation

The Lizard sites are on the National Nature Reserve. The north coasts sites are mostly

within SSSI, while some are also owned by The National Trust.

Source:

I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.

The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.



Cornish Biodiversity Network. 2017.