This is an interactive site for dipterists from all continents dealing with all aspects of dipterology (the study of Diptera: flies and midges) and dipterists. Here you can submit all your links to dipterological websites and events, post your dipterological queries in the forum, submit articles and news on Diptera, and contribute pictures for the Diptera Gallery. Submissions are open for members and members can contribute to the forums.
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Enjoy the site and keep helping to build it up to a significant entry point for dipterological research.
Last Sunday (12 May) it was 15 years ago the first thread was posted on Diptera.info. Thank you all for making Diptera.info a lively and useful site for dipterists and many others!
In mid-May this year, our Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America was published (https://press.princeton.edu/titles/14224.html). This book covers all syrphids found from Tennessee north to the high Arctic (including Greenland) and west to roughly the Mississippi River. All 413 known species from this region are included in the guide. In addition to providing identification information on the species, it includes many previously unpublished things (new synonyms, new combinations, undescribed species, DNA evidence for taxonomic decision making, etc.). The book includes many photos of each species (both lab and field photos), maps that include dots for the exact records as well as predictive ranges, silhouettes showing the actual size of the animals, ecological information, etc. There is also an extensive morphology section, glossary, checklist and bibliography.
It is published by Princeton and available from most book sellers (including Amazon, Indigo, Veldshop, Pemberly, etc.).
We hope that you enjoy it and help fill in the many gaps in our knowledge before a second edition.
Jeff
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Jeff Skevington, Research Scientist
Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
German Diptera Meeting 2019
The 36th meeting of the German Diptera study group (AK DIPTERA) is going to take place from 31.05.2019 to 02.06.2019 in southwestern Germany, near the Danube Sinkhole near Tuttlingen (state of Baden-Württemberg). The meeting consists of a scientific symposium on Friday, a Diptera collecting field trip on Saturday, and an optional historic excursion on Sunday (castle Granegg and Beilstein cave). As the venue is located close to the FRENCH and SWISS border, we would be delighted to welcome some of our neighbouring colleagues! If you are interested to participate, send me a PM and I will send you an English version of the registration form with additional details.
Kind regards,
Christian
New book: The robberflies of Germany
Finally it is done! The nature guide "The robberflies of Germany" has just been published (in German language):
Many thanks to all of you, who contributed to this book with their faunistic data of asilid findings (pictures) from Germany.
Greetings,
Danny
Simuliid Bulletin Number 49
The Simuliid Bulletin Number 49 (January 2018) is now available for download at the usual site: simuliidbulletin.blogspot.co.uk. You find it by clicking on the link to go to the Simuliid Bulletin Archives.
The main article is an obituary for Dr. Roger Crosskey, but there is also an obiturary for Michael Service and a notice about the forthcoming Symposium in Birmingham.
Best wishes,
John Davies
Ken Smith
I am sad to report that Ken Smith passed away recently. The following appreciation was written by John Ismay.
"I knew Ken Smith since 1969, when I first visited the then British Museum (Natural History) in London. At the time the Diptera Section was a large and active section, with enough staff to identify almost any fly to species. Such a facility is no longer feasible, partly due to financial cutbacks but more particularly because the identification of insect taxa has become more difficult as more species are described and the techniques used become more complicated. Ken was one of the last dipterists able to identify most flies to species.
Ken worked in the Hope Department of Entomology in the University Museum, Oxford in the early years of his career. He worked for Dr B.M. Hobby, an expert on Asilidae and they built up an impressive collection of predatory flies (mainly Asilidae and Empidiodea) and their prey. As a result, Ken became an expert in Empidoidea worldwide. Hobby was a long term editor of the Entomologist’s monthly Magazine and Ken assisted him and eventually succeeded him. Ken was ably assisted by his wife Vera. We owe all these entomologists a great debt for keeping the EMM running.
When Ken moved to the British Museum (Natural History), now the Natural History Museum he continued with his interest in Empidoidea. He worked on many families of Diptera and wrote definitive texts on the British fauna, in addition to major papers on world taxa. It is worth noting that many of these families are not easy choices. In particular he worked on Empidoidea in the southern hemisphere, a speciose and complicated group which is still being revised, and in Britain made progress with the Phoridae. This is one of the most underworked families of the Diptera and many species remain to be found even in Britain. His Royal Entomological Society key to the larvae of British Diptera is another landmark publication on a very difficult subject.
Ken was a social and outgoing person, never happier than in a pub or party with a glass in hand. He was an inspiration to younger dipterists, including the writer and was always willing to help less experienced colleagues. He had an excellent sense of humour. On one occasion he heard the Keeper, Paul Freeman, asking another section head for the number of primary type specimens (the specimens from which new species are described) held on the section. Ken had catalogued many of these on the Diptera Section, so he went to the card index with a new pack of 100 cards and quickly measured the length of the index, then counted the cards left over. When Freeman reached Diptera and asked for the number of types Ken gave him an exact figure of several thousand species, which must have been a surprise to his line manager.
He will be sorely missed in entomological circles and our sympathy goes to his two sons and the rest of the family."
von Tschirnhauson 04 December 2018 18:36:52
dear Tony, most females of Napomyza spp. cannot be identified to the species level including N. bellidis also if you have the papers of Zlobin 1993 and 1994 on the lateralis group available: Dipterological Research (St. Petersburg) 4(4): 225-235 and 5(1): 39-78. View Photo Comment
AaronSon 28 November 2018 03:26:51
Great find & photos in your series here!
Indeed, using the key on pg. 243 of Curran[1941] (PDF here), this cerioidine goes to Cerioides vittipes via the couplet sequence:
1) "Metasternum at least narrowly sub-membranous in the middle, usually very widely so" (Note: Although this character is not visible in your photos, the alternative choice of couplet 2) here leads to inconsistent results...in addition, only Polybiomyia have a "complete post-metacoxal bridge", but they all have a much shorter frontal prominence); 8) "Antennal process at least as long as the first antennal segment" ; 9) "Second abdominal segment strongly constricted" ; 10) "Abdomen reddish" ; 11) "First abdominal segment yellowish the basal half or more" (and this is not tricolor!) ; 12) "Dark markings of the head and thorax black"......vittipes
Your photos of this male from Peru are also in excellent agreement with the original description of the male of Cerioides vittipes from Peru on pg. 246 of Curran[1941].
Your photos form an excellent reference post for this distinctive and very beautiful cerioidine! View Photo Comment
jorgemotalmeidaon 21 October 2018 21:49:35
This is not P. melinoproctus. It should be a very rare variant of Platypygus ridibundus. Same for the same specimen in the remaining photos. We will need to collect this Platypygus to be completely sure. View Photo Comment
Bastiaan Wakkieon 17 October 2018 10:22:33
There are some problems with the domain name transfer as far as I understood. Will be back soon(tm) View News Comment
Hey Dipterists! Quick Question: Vein r2+3 bare beneath. I've always assumed that this is below as in when you look at the wing flat. Am I right? Thank youuuuu!
