Pseudosiphona is a very common genus in the neotropics – in these photos you can see the small labellum (much shorter than in Siphona) and the katepisternal bristle arrangement (with the strong lower bristle close to the posteroventral edge) typical of this genus.
This is the first of a batch of flies sent to me by Menno Reemer and caught by him in Surinam in 2006. Copecrypta (and the allied genera Deopalpus & Itacuphocera) are some of my favourites. They all have an interesting ant- or beetle-shaped abdomen.
The Pseudosiphona look superficially like a Siphona but with a much shorter labrum. You should also be able to just make out the strong ventral bristle on the katepisternum. Det: Monty Wood, 2010.
As you might expect, the siphonines are well represented in the neotropics and familiar genera, like Siphona, Actia and Ceromya can be found. The group is quite easy to determine from the small size, hairy r4+5 (often also r1 and cu) and long, converging or parallel subapical scutellar bristles. Beyond that Monty’s key splits the ...
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.
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 ...
Chrysotachina is a very distinctive genus of metallic coloured tachinids. They are not common but they do come up in samples quite regularly. They have been reared from Hesperidae. Determination by Monty Wood:
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 ...