Switzerland benefits from a public institution, Info fauna, which oversees the collection and distribution of faunistic data, collaborates to ensure the conservation of the swiss fauna and generally participates and encourages projects that aim to widen up the access to faunistic and conservation data.

In this scope a new project started at the beginning of 2020 with the objective to expand and spread knowledge on a little-known group in the country: Syrphidae. This group was also chosen because of its evident value in bioindication as well as the ecological services it provides.

This project had three goals. First, to ensure that ecological knowledge would be freely and easily accessible on info fauna's platform for all the swiss species. Second, to enable their identification through already existing keys, and by the creation of two new genera keys for which no European identification tool comprised all the swiss species (Cheilosia and Platycheirus). And finally, with the aid of targeted samplings, to broaden the already available habitat-species association knowledge (in the Syrph the Net database), with four valuable habitats in the country.

This project is now coming to an end, and will benefit researchers and amateurs alike, even beyond our borders. We hope that the tools we created will foster new Syrphidae projects in the country that will in turn contribute to increase the knowledge on this taxon. 

In this presentation, the details of each part of the project will be explored. Along with the results, different aspects of their creation will be discussed with potential prospects for future updates and extensions.