Scientists are examining a grass fly found on a field next to the main road out of South Bristol that one expert said could be an entirely new species never seen before.
The fly was captured last summer as part of a survey of two fields to the west of the A38 in Highridge, which is part of Bristol’s last working farm - Yew Tree Farm.
Scientist David Gibbs was asked to survey the fields between the farmhouse and the main Bridgwater Road next to the Computershare offices by farm owner Catherine Withers, and said what he found could be an entirely new genus of fly.
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The two fields and the hedgerows yielded an astonishing 290 different species of flies, butterflies, beetles and other insects, including a number of rare and endangered types.
But it is the discovery of a mysterious dark-coloured grass fly that has sparked intrigue in scientific circles.
Mr Gibbs said the fly found in the hedgerow was a ‘very distinctive’ Chloropid fly from the Meromyza genus, which are typically small grass flies with black and yellow stripes. In his report, he said the one he found at Yew Tree Farm was ‘much darker than other members of the genus and with quite different genitalia’, that ‘appears to be new for Britain’.
“Further research needed to identify it is ongoing. All Meromyza are associated with grasses, developing internally and sometimes producing visible galls. One male swept from the hedgerow, but will have developed within the grassland habitat.
“Typically they are largely yellow flies with some black spots and stripes - very rarely, darker examples are found, usually in early spring. The specimen found at Yew Tree Farm in June is very blackish above, much more so than is usual in the genus,” he added.
Scientists in Germany and Russia have been tasked with trying to identify the fly, but so far no one has been able to.
“To eliminate the possibility of a melanic specimen, it was dissected and proved to have equally atypical genitalia that did not match anything in the literature available to me,” explained Mr Gibbs. “Photos have been sent to the foremost European specialists in this family and genus, but as yet they have been unable to identify this fly. Research will continue, but it might be necessary to obtain more specimens if this mystery is to be solved,” he added.
The two fields where the fly was discovered have been something of a battleground for new housing. Yew Tree Farm’s owner Catherine Withers rents that part of her farm nearest the road, and its owners have signed a deal with a housing developer who has plans for 220 new homes there.
Mrs Withers instructed the independent invertebrate survey as part of the long-running fight to stop the developers getting planning permission, and recently, the Mayor of Bristol and city planners confirmed they would be taking Yew Tree Farm out of the draft Local Plan, so homes could not be built there.
Last summer a different section of the boundary of Yew Tree Farm was attacked by an arsonist who started multiple small fires along a fence line that prompted fury from local councillor Richard Eddy.
Read more about Yew Tree Farm:
- Meet the woman fighting to stop Bristol's last working farm from disappearing
- Arson attack on Bristol's last farm 'really weird' says farmer
- Pet sheep attacked and almost killed by roaming dog on Bristol's Yew Tree Farm
- Diggers arrive at Bristol's last working farm despite Mayor's pledge to save it
- Yew Tree Farm in Bristol sees potential reprieve from new homes plan
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