Pine hoverfly - update

The following are brief summaries of some of the action that we and our partners have done since the Species Action Framework was launched. They're in chronological order, with the most recent updates at the top of the page.

May 2011

Field work is just about to start for the 2011 season. The main priorities for this last year of the 5 year programme are to establish a third new population on FCS ground at Glenmore and to monitor and supplement the two newly established populations at Rothiemurchus and Abernethy.

April 2011

Pine hoverfly recovery programme to feature in TV series

As part of an ITV series on Scottish habitats planned for the autumn filming took place in April in Abernethy Forest at the pine hoverfly re-introduction site. Presenter Ray Mears interviewed Iain MacGowan about the success of the project and the ground breaking management techniques which have been developed

September 2010

The first larvae have been placed into pre-cut stumps at Loch Garten on the RSPB's Abernethy reserve thus establishing the second new colony.

August 2010

The Rothiemurchus larvae continue to develop well and have now been found at two separate locations where holes have been cut in stumps; at the original release site and at a site 1Km away.

August 2010

View a talk on the pine hoverfly !

SEPA/SNH Conference Research and Knowledge Exchange SNH Battleby, 17-18 February 2010

To enable wider knowledge exchange of the research carried out by SNH and SEPA, the organisations hosted a two day event which over 130 delegates attended. Over the two days talks and posters were presented by contractors, researchers and students funded by the organisations. You can see a video of the pine hoverfly talk  given at the event by Ellen Rotheray.

July 2010

After a preliminary survey,  1st and 2nd instar Blera fallax larvae have been found in in six bored stumps in Rothiemurchus Estate. This means that males and females released into the wild have successfully bred and that egg laying took place in the artificially created stump holes. This is an important step in establishing a new and sustainable population in this native pinewood which is a historical site for the Pine Hoverfly.

176 individuals  were released in total (81 larvae in October 2009 and 95 adults in May and June 2010). We are hopeful that there are more to find. The donor population is, again, doing very well this year: at least 50 Blera larvae in 19 stumps.

June 2010

In June 2010 152 adults emerged from the 2009 first captive breeding attempt, 95 of which were released in Rothiemurchus Estate, the 1st site for re-locating or extending the range.

Abernethy Forest RSPB reserve is making preparations for the 2nd re-introduction in September 2010 (larvae) and May 2011 (adults) once final approval is given by RSPB management. A site has been located and plans are set to fell and bore holes in ~100 trees in August 2010.