Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Bombiliidae, Exhyalanthrax muscarius? From Rhodes >Thyridanthrax lotus by P. Alvarez

Posted by Piluca_Alvarez on 25-11-2015 11:59
#5

Hi again, Henrik :)

Well, to me this is not Exhyalanthrax muscarius... Antennae look wrong for Exhyalanthrax (too 'narrow' and long and differently shaped), I miss the lateral whitish bands of mesonotum and whitish toment on scutellum of E. muscarius. Besides, the abdominal pattern is a bit different (good mixture of golden, white and black bands in E. muscarius). See in the attachment a picture of the typical Spanish E. muscarius :)

Unfortunately, your creatures are unknown to me (as expected).

But... I have gone through my old keys and they take me directly to a certain Thyridanthrax lotus... which happen to fit your flies (whitish tranverse mesonotal band at level of basicostas, pale wings with yellowish coloration on basal venation, perfect abdominal pattern... and it is present in Rhodes!! ;)

I have a feeling your two last pictures (at least) are this species! :)

The first picture is difficult to tell as the fly looks too tatty and trying to key it might be misleading. I suggest to leave it as a possible T. lotus.

I shall have a look at your other Thyridanthrax as soon as I can (but no time today). It looks good for T. elegans at first glance but as I don't know which species are in Rhodes, it needs to be checked.