Diptera.info :: Identification queries :: Diptera (adults)
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 Tachinid from Australia.
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| Graeme Cocks |
Posted on 18-04-2010 23:12
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 Member Location: Townsville, Australia Posts: 3083 Joined: 09.09.08 |
A tachinid (I think) caught in a malaise trap. Townsville, Australia. Graeme Cocks attached the following image:  [38.91Kb] |
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| jorgemotalmeida |
Posted on 18-04-2010 23:14
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 Member Location: Viseu - PORTUGAL Posts: 9296 Joined: 05.06.06 |
Prosena sp. |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 19-04-2010 10:04
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 Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7699 Joined: 12.07.04 |
Yes, I agree - I had a similar one (only my second tachinid from Australia  ) and it keyed to Prosena sp., but there are quite a few species down there. If you have any 'spares' you can send me then I'd be happy to run them through the key and let you have my opinion  Off the top of my head the key features are: plumose arista, median facial ridge & very long proboscis. But you do have quite a lot of dexiines there so it would be useful to key some, just to be sure. Here are some photos of my one:    Apologies for the size - linking from my blog. Edited by ChrisR on 19-04-2010 10:09 Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| Graeme Cocks |
Posted on 19-04-2010 20:36
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Member Location: Townsville, Australia Posts: 3083 Joined: 09.09.08 |
Thank you jorgemontalmedia and ChrisR. Chris - Australian flies seem to be quite popular. Gerard Pennards is already on my mailing list. I have to keep sending to BOLD until there are 5 successfully DNA'd. After that I might be able to send you some. Have you had a look at the Tachinidae on my website? Just Google Insects of Townsville. |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 19-04-2010 21:54
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Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7699 Joined: 12.07.04 |
Thanks Graham - I'd love to have a play with some Australian stuff any day Your site is very nice - these are my first-impressions, though based on very little experience: - gvc0921 - another Prosena sp.? - gvc5300 & gvc4042 - in the Sturmia/Winthemia area - fairly easy to key - the others are very interesting but I'd need to key them When you say they need 5 DNA'd is that 5 of each morphotype or are they having trouble getting 5 of any tachinid? How many tachinids are you getting per week and what kind of habitats are you setting it up in? Cheers Chris R. Edited by ChrisR on 19-04-2010 21:56 Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| Graeme Cocks |
Posted on 19-04-2010 22:36
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Member Location: Townsville, Australia Posts: 3083 Joined: 09.09.08 |
BOLD work on the principle of 1 verified ID together with 3 other successful are the minimum requirements for a species. If I send 5 then there is a good chance 3 will be successful. The malaise trap sits in my backyard, near my compost bin. |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 20-04-2010 09:27
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Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7699 Joined: 12.07.04 |
Sounds good ... the main problem will be getting a verified ID to species on any tachinid in Australia, I think. Do you have anyone there working on them? The alternative is to use the 'conspectus' by Crosskey (1973) to get you to genus (with a write-up that will show you which species are possible - but no key to species usually) and then compare specimens to material in a national, named collection ... and prepare for a lot of new species (and even new genera) Morphotyping (ie. in the absence of keys just using your eyes to group related specimens together) will be fairly accurate for some groups but it depends how many features you check for similarity to form your taxa ... male genitalia, bristle numbers and positions etc. Would be nice to see photos of you Malaise in-situ too - I bet your back garden in Queensland looks a bit different from mine Are you in an urban area or are you surrounded by some bush?
Edited by ChrisR on 20-04-2010 09:31 Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| Graeme Cocks |
Posted on 20-04-2010 09:58
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Member Location: Townsville, Australia Posts: 3083 Joined: 09.09.08 |
I don't know any thing about how involved Australia is with supplying Diptera specimens to BOLD. I do it for my own personal enjoyment. Lepidoptera are my main interest. I've been sending them to BOLD for a long time, and Diptera are very recent addition. I'm learning daily about them. The malaise trap is in urban, but I also collect at light at a location 40 kms inland from Townsville. Really interesting stuff there. The trouble is I've got too much to sort through. |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 20-04-2010 10:23
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Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7699 Joined: 12.07.04 |
Yes, the sorting is the hardest work - my arthritic thumbs are still aching after the last batch of material from South America! Just getting a batch of specimens to a state where they can be studied can take many weeks - before you get your chance to look through the keys. Do you rear-out many from leps? I was sent a batch of Sturmia convergens from a chap in your neck of the woods, reared from Monarchs. Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| Liekele Sijstermans |
Posted on 20-04-2010 14:09
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Member Location: Geldermalsen Netherlands Posts: 305 Joined: 16.04.05 |
To identify this specimen - as at the top of this thread - at generic level I would consult to use Barraclough, 1992. The systematics of the Australasian Dexiini (Diptera: Tachinidae: Dexiinae) with revisions of Endemic Genera. Invertebr. Taxon. 6: 1127 - 1371. I agree with Chris that this specimen is very likely Prosena. Barraclough mentions about 21 described species of Prosena from Australia. For identification at species level he advises to use Malloch (1932 Proc Linn Soc New South Wales 57: 127-132) and Curran (1938 Proc Linn Soc New South Wales 63: 187). Liekele |
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| Graeme Cocks |
Posted on 20-04-2010 21:01
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Member Location: Townsville, Australia Posts: 3083 Joined: 09.09.08 |
Thank you Liekele. Chris - yes I have a couple of hatching tanks. There are some wasp mud nests in one at the moment. I did get some tachinids from a lep larvae a while back. I'll see if I can find the record. |
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but don't see the image in the post.