Ice Age fly discovered alive and well in Scotland

Lewis Smith

ENTOMOLOGISTS wait a lifetime for a new species, then two turn up at once.

Scientists have discovered two new species of fly in the Scottish mountains, only about 50 miles (80km) apart.

New species of insect are unusual in Britain, one of the most studied countries in the world, but to find two so close together is particularly rare.

The black Christii fly (Ectaetia christii) and a fungus gnat (Creagdhubhia mallochorum), each about 2mm long, were found during a survey of flora and fauna on the Cairngorms.

Scientists also identified a new type of lichen (Rimularia globulosa), and several plants and insects never before seen in Britain.

Graham Rotheray, of the National Museum of Scotland, found the Christii fly underneath the decaying bark of a fallen tree near Grantown on Spey. He believes that the fly is a relic from the Ice Age.

“This is a superb example of a boreal species that has lain undiscovered in Scotland for thousands of years,” he said. “We have since found it again two or three times in the Cairngorms and it has recently been discovered in Norway.”

Scientists said the new gnat did not bite people and instead fed on dead fungi.

Stuart Hine, of the Natural History Museum, said that one or two new insects turned up every year. “It’s amazing that there are some species yet to be discovered in the UK,” he said.

The insects and the lichen feature in The Nature of the Cairngorms, published yesterday. Des Thompson, who co-edited the book, said:

“Nowhere else in Britain, and some would argue in Europe, will you find so much diversity of wildlife in such a confined area.”

Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.