Species Account for Gymnosoma nitens
Gymnosoma nitens Meigen, 1824
Diptera: other groups: Tachinidae
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Taxonomic group: flies (other) (Diptera: other groups) - County data
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Status: RDB 1
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Gymnosoma nitens on Tachinid Recording Scheme website
Species text
Gymnosoma nitens is a parasite of the Nationally Scarce ground-dwelling shieldbug Sciocoris cursitans. This species is especially, but not exclusively, associated with chalk grassland and calcareous sand, and is always found on unshaded, well-drained and friable soils with a rather open vegetation structure and usually with a component of bare ground. Though believed to be phytophagous, there appear to be no certainly identified food plants, and it may be polyphagous. In Essex both species were known only from the Thames corridor, until 2022 when both species were recorded at sites close to Harwich in the north-east. G. nitens has been recorded from a number of post-industrial sites along the East Thames Corridor, which forms its national stronghold (Harvey, 2002b). However the majority of sites are either already lost to development or under immense development threat and the status of the fly in Britain is vulnerable. References
Habitats
Recorded management for locations with Gymnosoma nitens
Recorded substrate and hydrology for locations with Gymnosoma nitens
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