A character that is common to (virtually) all members of a group and that in itself, or in combination with other diagnostic characters, is unique to that group. For example: empodia pulviliform; branches of R crowded on costal margin; wing often with fine longitudinal wrinkles are all diagnostic characters for the taxon Stratiomyidae. Compare with differential character.
Some flies preserved in ethanol and then pinned often get the eyes sunken, how can this be avoided? Best answer: I usually keep alcohol-collected material in alcohol
Tried to attach an image to a forum post. jpg, 32kB, 72dpi, no blanks, ... File name is correctly displayed, but when I click "Preview Thread" it just vanishes. Help!