Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Unknown small fly
Posted by Lavendel on 23-11-2007 17:57
#1
Hello,
Can you help me identify this fly?
Pupa on dead wasp.
nov 2th 2007 , Walem the Netherlands
Thanks in advance.
Edited by Lavendel on 23-11-2007 17:59
Posted by Lavendel on 23-11-2007 17:58
#2
underside fly
photo taken on nov 11th 2007 Walem, the Netherlands
Edited by Lavendel on 23-11-2007 18:02
Posted by Lavendel on 23-11-2007 18:01
#3
dead fly
Posted by crex on 23-11-2007 19:19
#4
Phoridae, I think (I'd better add)
Edited by crex on 23-11-2007 19:25
Posted by Paul Beuk on 23-11-2007 19:57
#5
You are quite right, crex, the pupa itself would have been enough.
Posted by Tony Irwin on 23-11-2007 20:28
#6
A
Megaselia, I think - a number of species breed in dead insects (though very many are parasitoids). As it is a female, it's going to be difficult to ID with certainty.
Posted by Lavendel on 24-11-2007 07:54
#7
Thanks Crex, Paul and Tony!
I've got a lot more of them, they live in a wasp nest I recieved.
Maybe a picture of a male will be decisive? If only I could see the difference between male and female, they're so small...
This is an other one, is it male??
Edited by Lavendel on 24-11-2007 09:33
Posted by Tony Irwin on 24-11-2007 11:01
#8
That also looks like a female - even with the males it's usually necessary to slide-mount the specimens to see the detail to enable specific identification.
Megaselia is a "super genus" with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of species. A few have distinctive characters which enable easy identification, but most are rather difficult!
Posted by Lavendel on 24-11-2007 11:22
#9
Tony, thanks for that information.
I'm new at this and don't know what's posible and what's not.
Posted by Kahis on 24-11-2007 12:09
#10
The latest estimate (guesstimate really) of the total number of
Megaselia species wordwide is 'at least 15,000' :o
Europe alone has probably 1000 species, and
Megaselia is by no means a eurocentric genus...