Species comeback as 30,000th pine hoverfly released in Cairngorms
‘There are now more hoverflies than humans’
The 30,000th pine hoverfly has been released into the Cairngorms National Park as part of the breeding programme for the critically endangered species.
The milestone release by the Royal Zoological Society for Scotland follows the wildlife conservation charity’s release of nearly 7,000 larvae across four sites in March 2026.
The pine hoverfly is one of Britain’s rarest insects and is critically endangered in Scotland. It depends on complex woodland habitats which were once widespread in the UK but are now restricted to a few sites within the Cairngorms. The area’s dynamic pine forests create the perfect habitat for the insect.
High winds swept through the national park as the team prepared for the release, which was undertaken as part fo the Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms (RIC) project and in collaboration with the Pine Hoverfly Steering Group.
Georgina Lindsay, RZSS field conservation manager, said: “The scale of our achievement really only struck me when we found out that 18,000 people live in the Cairngorms and we’ve now released almost twice as many flies!
“The reintroduction project is hugely important for the species, which is one of Britain’s rarest insects. This milestone is emblematic of so much hard work and dedication, and a tribute to collaborative work between organisations with a shared mission.”
Releases were conducted on land managed by the RSPB Scotland, Forestry and Land Scotland and Anagach Woods Trust.
Project Officer Gen Tompkins said: “It’s fantastic to be celebrating this massive milestone. Alongside the large number of hoverflies released, it’s exciting that we are now starting to record more wild bred individuals at release sites and in new areas too.
“This would not be possible without a lot of hard work from project partners, volunteers and land managers restoring diverse and dynamic pine forests that include flowering trees and shrubs that pine hoverflies and other wildlife depend on.”
This project is supported by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot and the Scottish Government’s zoos and aquariums fund, and relies on critical funding from the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Forestry and Land Scotland, Marvelous Europe Inc., NatureScot, The National Geographic Society, Cheeky Panda, the John Swires Trust 1989 and players of the Postcode Lottery.
The pine hoverfly conservation breeding programme started in 2018, with its first releases in Autumn 2021.
The insects are bred in the RZSS breeding-for-release centre at Highland Wildlife Park
The project had early markers for success in 2022 after a female adult pine hoverfly was spotted in the wild for the first time in 10 years.
Pine hoverflies require complex woodland habitats which include mature Caledonian pinewood forests and their diverse deciduous mix of flowering trees and plants in the understory.
The hoverfly’s larvae require the wet rotting holes found in such habitat. With the proliferation of logging which clears away deadwood from forests, these natural rot holes are rare, so conservationists create artificial rot holes to encourage breeding .
The Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms Project aims to learn more about several threatened invertebrate species and their distribution across the Cairngorms National Park (CNP).
The project works with some of the UK’s rarest species, for which the CNP is an important stronghold.
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