ChrisR ← Chris' blog ← Page 6

Quadratosoma sp. (Bolivia)

Sep

2010

This is one of my favourites from the batch of Bolivian tachinids that Martin Hauser kindly gave me earlier in the year. Determined by me and confirmed by Monty Wood.

Neomintho macilenta (French Guiana)

Sep

2010

This genus is related to the multi-fissicorn genera, like Cryptocladocera & Cerotachina (all members of the Neominthoini but most do not have multi-fissicorn antennae) . This species is distinguished by having a completely black T5. Determination by Monty Wood.

Oestrophasia sp. (Costa Rica)

Sep

2010

Determination by Monty Wood.

Parepalpus sp. (Bolivia)

Sep

2010

Determination by Monty Wood.

Pennapoda & Xanthomelanodes sp. (French Guiana & Bolivia)

Sep

2010

Pennapoda & Xanthomelanodes are very commonly caught genera – being part of a group of very similar phasiine genera with shaded a costa and often with orange abdominal patches. Pennapoda closely related to the genus Trichopoda and both have leaf-like antero-dorsal bristles on the hind tibia, to a greater or lesser extent. Determination by Monty ...

Phasia sp. (Brazil & Bolivia)

Sep

2010

Determinations by Monty Wood.

Phyllophilopsis sp. (Panama)

Sep

2010

Determination by Monty Wood.

Leskia sp. (French Guiana & Ecuador)

Sep

2010

Leskia is a diverse and quite common genus. Determinations by Monty Wood.

Macromya depressa (Costa-Rica)

Sep

2010

This is a large and very striking fly – Monty Wood has confirmed the genus ID and I made the ID to species.

Masiphya sp. (Ecuador)

Sep

2010

This is a pair of Masiphya sp. – mantid parasitoids:

Moreiria maura (French Guiana)

Sep

2010

This is quite distinctive little species – similar to Leschenaultia but different. Determination by Monty Wood.

Myiopharus cf. nigrita (Bolivia)

Sep

2010

This is a really lovely little woolly species with silver face and pale grey abdominal dusting. Determination by Monty Wood.

Gonia crassicornis (French Guiana)

Sep

2010

This is apparently a common species around the Caribbean. Determination by Monty Wood.

Jurinella sp. (Costa Rica & Ecuador)

Sep

2010

Determination by myself & Monty Wood.

Jurinia notata & Jurinia sp. (French Guiana & Bolivia)

Sep

2010

Determinations by Monty Wood. EDIT (6/8/2011): After a trip to the BMNH I now believe that the first specimen is probably Jurinia notata.

Epalpus sp. (Bolivia)

Sep

2010

Determination by myself & Monty Wood.

Eucelatoria sp. (Bolivia, French Guiana)

Sep

2010

This is a very distinctively marked genus. Determinations by Monty Wood.

Copecrypta (Bolivia, French Guiana)

Sep

2010

These 2 flies are either Copecrypta or a genus very close to it.

Chlorohystricia sp. (Costa Rica)

Sep

2010

This beautiful fly was given to me by John & Barbara Ismay who caught a few while in Monteverde, Costa Rica, after the 2010 International Diptera Congress. This genus belongs to a very unusual tribe (the Polideini) that look very similar to the Tachinini but that have a very distinctive metathoracic spiracle – made up ...

Chrysoexorista sp. (Bolivia & Brazil)

Sep

2010

This genus is one of my favourites, but from the rather drab greasy-looking colouration you might be forgiven for wondering why? However, their gorgeous metallic green colours only show in life or when freshly removed from alcohol – but when they have dried out the colours are all lost and all that is left is ...

Tachinid Recording News

Thelyconychia solivaga January 23, 2015
Recently I have been working on adding a new species to the British list to our key. Thelyconychia solivaga is a small tachinid that seems to live on fairly stony/rocky coastal sites and is very rare in the UK – in fact only 3 specimens have been found so far (by Laurence Clemons in Kent […]
The problem with Phryxe … January 20, 2015
The genus Phryxe contains a few common species (nemea, vulgaris & heraclei) and a few very rare ones (magnicornis & erythrostoma). The key pulls out nemea first by the wide gap between the facial-ridge bristles and the descending parafrontals – wider than the width of antenna-3 plus the mustardy/yellow frontal area. Splitting off heraclei has […]
Gonia face colour January 20, 2015
In the keys to Gonia one of the couplets asks you to consider the shininess of the face but this can be a confusing thing to judge when you only have one specimen. In this mini article I have taken photos of the 2 choices to make it clear. The first thing to do is […]
Linnaemya picta, tessellans & rossica confusion features November 27, 2014
For many years Linnaemya picta had been confused with rossica because early workers (e.g. Fonseca) hadn’t tried using the European keys. Since the ‘discovery’ of picta in Kent it has spread across southern England as far as Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire & Berkshire and so now we have another fairly common black-legged species to confuse with tessellans. […]
Siphona urbana or geniculata? September 9, 2013
In Andersen’s 1996 book “The Siphonini (Diptera: Tachinidae) or Europe” he made several changes to the names of Siphona spp., which have proved a bit confusing. The changes (and subsequent reversions) illustrate a few nice aspects of modern taxonomy and so I thought I would write a little piece on what happened. Every species is […]