Brazil ← ChrisR

Some more stacking … 1

Oct

2011

Here are a few Pelecotheca (Cryptocladocera) sp. stacks. The technique involves taking about 30 photos, each at a different focal point in the specimen and using a macro-rail to slowly move the camera backwards or forwards. The focused parts of each photo are then combined using software called Zerene Stacker (Pmax setting) to make the ...

Archytas aurifrons, Townsend

Aug

2011

Last week I spent a happy afternoon at the BMNH, courtesy of Erica & Nigel in the Diptera department. I decided to concentrate on a few genera and try to identify a few neotropical specimens. My first was Archytas, a large genus with many very similar species, because I have a few quite atypical taxa ...

Homogenia sp. (Brazil)

Oct

2010

These quite large (>1cm) phasiines are obviously in the tribe Trichopodini but they only have small leaf-shaped hairs on the hind tibiae. Det: Monty Wood, 2010.

Trichophora sp. (Brazil)

Sep

2010

Determination by me – confirmed by Monty Wood.

Phasia sp. (Brazil & Bolivia)

Sep

2010

Determinations by Monty Wood.

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 ...

Blepharipa sp. (Brazil)

Sep

2010

Blepharipa is a familiar genus of palearctic flies to me, as I am sent them occasionally from European material. But it was quite a surprise to hear Monty say that I had a South American Blepharipa … different species of course (and unknown so far) but the same genus, nonetheless.

Archytas (French Guiana & Brazil)

Sep

2010

The following is a selection of Archytas sp. from both French Guiana and Brazil showing some of the immense diversity of this genus. Despite their huge variability Archytas spp. usually have a characteristic change in colouration between tergites 1-4 and tergite 5 – the whole abdomen is shiny but tergites 1-4 have a faint, pale ...

Actinochaeta sp. (Brazil)

Sep

2010

This lovely little Mintho-type fly was collected in Rondania, Brazil by Eric Fisher and was determined by Monty Wood:

Another fantastic parcel from Eric & Martin 3

Apr

2010

Today my postman huffed & puffed his way up the driveway with another box of specimens from Eric Fisher & Martin Hauser. My parcel wasn’t really all that heavy but I think the postie liked to make a point … he was feeling over-worked trying to get parcels to everyone before Easter 😉 Inside was ...

Tachinid Recording News

Identifying slim, black tachinids with grey dusting May 30, 2020
I always seem to have difficulty identifying the slim black&grey tachinids in the tribe Blondeliini and Phyllomya volvulus in photos. This mini article is a work in progress but should give some clues and rules of thumb that might be useful: Phyllomyia volvulus: orange/yellow wing bases/calyptrae; long & strong abdominal bristles, often longer than […]
Identifying the bronze-black Spring tachinids April 14, 2020
Work in progress… Spring can be an exciting time for Dipterists, when the first species emerge and we all clamour to identify our first flies. However, a few of the species can be quite tricky to identify from photos because they look superficially quite similar. That said, it can be possible to identify most […]
How to identify greenbottles in photos September 15, 2019
There are a few greenbottle tachinids and one of them (Chrysosomopsis aurata) is incredibly rare so I thought it might be worth showing how to identify it from the others. It is on the wing in late summer so could be easy to confuse for commoner species: Hairy eyes and strong erect bristles on […]
Tachinids that look like Eriothrix rufomaculata August 18, 2019
Eriothrix rufomaculata is an incredibly common fly in mid-summer, especially on any flowery meadows. The species is very easy to identify from the red abdominal side-patches, silvery face with projecting mouth edge, long costal spine, slightly shaded wings with a small petiole on the median vein. The only problem is that several other, rarer, […]
A quick guide to the new UK phasiines August 17, 2019
This year we have been lucky enough to receive records for 2 new species to the UK – Ectophasia crassipennis & Phasia aurigera. These both bear a resemblance to Phasia hemiptera and have been confused with them in the past so I thought I’d put together a few pointers on how to spot them. […]