180 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 7: 1994 



dunes. The large number permits a few young turtles to successfully run the gauntlet 

 of predators and adverse weather conditions to reach the sea. Man's love of the 

 motorcar has added yet another burden by loss of habitat. The National Commission 

 for Wildlife Conservation and Development have taken active steps to help wildlife 

 in the kingdom. 



SHORT COMMUNICATION 



Pandivirilia (Psilocephala) melaleuca (Loew) (Diptera: Therevidae) new to 

 Gloucestershire. — A therevid larva was found while searching through cuboidal red- 

 rotten heartwood in a fallen oak trunk in Hailey Wood, Cirencester Park, Glos., 

 (SO962003), on 26.iii.1993. The only therevid known to breed in this situation in 

 Britain is Pandivirilia melaleuca. The red-rot was extensively galleried but little else 

 was found other than a few beetles — Cispygmaeus (Marsh.) and Mycetophagus piceus 

 (F.), species which are well-known to breed in this situation. The fungal agency is 

 likely to have been Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull, ex Fr.). 



This fly has mainly been recorded from the Windsor Forest area, but Allen (1981) 

 has reported finding a larva in Greenwich Park in March 1980, also in red-rot in 

 an old oak. At Windsor, it mainly breeds in red-rotten oak, but has occasionally been 

 found in rotten beech and once in ash (Owen, 1993). 



In addition to my own, I am aware of a number of other recent records of therevid 

 larvae from rotten heartwood: Richmond Park, Surrey, in very dry powdery rotten 

 oak exposed after the 1987 gale (Owen, 1993); one in a fallen oak in Bushy Park, 

 Middlesex, J. A. Owen and P. J. Hodge (in Owen, 1993); one in a moribund pollard 

 ash at a Worcestershire locality, 11. hi. 1989 (P. F. Whitehead, pers. comm.), and A. 

 P. Fowles {pers. comm.) has found what also appears to be a therevid larva within 

 red-rot in an oak at a locality in Cardiganshire. It begins to seem that this rare relict 

 old forest species actually occurs across a large area of southern Britain. The recent 

 spate of records perhaps reflects an increased interest in Diptera by coleopterists — the 

 larval habitat is one more likely to be investigated for beetles than for flies! 



I would like to record my thanks to Alan Stubbs for his comments on my 

 larva, to Martin Drake for information from the Larger Brachycera Recording 

 Scheme, and to Paul Whitehead and Adrian Fowles for permission to mention their 

 records. — K. N. A. Alexander, 14 Partridge Way, Cirencester, Gloucestershire 

 GL7 1BQ. 



References 



Allen, A. A. 1981. Psilocephala melaleuca (Loew) (Dipt., Therevidae) apparently surviving in 



S.E. London. Entomologist's Mon. Mag. 117: 256. 

 Owen, J. A. 1993. Rearing Psilocephala melaleuca (Loew) (Diptera: Therevidae) from larvae. 



Entomologist's Rec. J. Var. 105: 257-259. 



