Diptera.info

Posted by Gordon on 22-01-2008 16:57

Hi Everyone,
I am co-ordinating a biodiversity study of a nature reserve in northern Greece based on the RAMSAR and Natura2000 site Wetland Kerkini. Being in Greece nearly everything is new and there are no local experts. Paul has already offered a lot of help with this project, to someone who is not reallt a dipterist, but I am coming again cap in hand

Thanks to the hard work of Jan Maca I now have a number of tubes sorted to family, that I know nothing about at all. After I have finished making drawings of each family in the hope that I will recognise them in the future they will be looking for experts to determine them.

Todays bargins include; Ephydridae 15 tubes, Psilidae (6/7 tubes), Chamaemyiidae (1 tube), Trixoscelididae 5/6 tubes and Opomyzidae 3/4 tubes.

Anybody who is interested in these groups, knows anybody who is interested in these groups, or who can supply photocopies of keys for any of these groups, please speak up.B)

Other offers incluse 10/12 tubes of mixed Calypterates and numerous Cecidomyids, Ceratopogonids, Phorids and what I have guessed is Muscoidea.:(

Don't forget it is ecologically friendly to recycle flies, send some to your friends.

Well that's it for now, but I will be back as I have 42 bottles of malaise material to work through before I start collecting for this year.

Gordon

Posted by Paul Beuk on 22-01-2008 19:56

Gordon,

Inlcude me for the Trixoscelis as well. I know Andrzej is over all better acquainted with them but I already have several tubes with material. Among these is at least T. yugoslavensis of which I have promissed seevral specimens to him.
The other material you sent (the empidoids arrived last Friday) also include muscoids, Tachinidae, Psilidae, Ephydridae, Chloropidae and a numbr of other families.
Fo everyone's information: mixed with muscoids can be other calyptrate families (like Scathophagidae) and acalyptrates that can be mistaken for Muscidae or Anthomyiidae (some Lauxaniidae, Heleomyzidae, etc.).

I received from Gordon a bumper pack with empidoids (no Dolichopodidae) which includes several species new to Greece and several that may be new to science. There will be some problematic groups for identification, like most Drapetini (Drapetis and Crossopalpus) and Hilara. There are also many Platypalpus, which will be time consuming, but at least there is a key to the Mediterranean species.

In all, if you decide to have a look at the material: You will ave an interesting experience!

Posted by Steve Gaimari on 23-01-2008 03:35

For my part, I'd be more than happy to identify the Chamaemyiidae. :)

Same goes for lauxaniids, but with Bernard Merz or Paul in Europe, you probably have that covered. Again, same with odiniids, but with Jan Maca you are probably all set. If you come up with any therevids, I'd be happy to deal with these as well - although Kevin Holston in Stockholm would certainly be best equipped for Thereva.

Posted by Gordon on 23-01-2008 08:31

Dear Everybody,
What a pleasant morning's reading, thank you all for replying and offering your help. Paul I will send the Trixoscelids I will send to Andrzej, because I am logical and he wrote me last night and thus got in first, I hope you don't mind, Jan will recieve the Opomyzids and I will send Tony the Ephydrids and Stephen the Chamaemyiids as requested.

I remain hopeful that someone will be will to look at the Calyprata with a view to sorting them to family, so that I can both find experts for them and learn the families myself.:D

Posted by Paul Beuk on 23-01-2008 09:44

Unless you are in a hurry to ship them: I have one tube with Chamaemyiidae and several with Ephydridae. I can either return them to you and you ship the lot together I or (if you want to have things off you hands) I send them on to the intended recipients. Just let me know.

Posted by Gordon on 27-01-2008 08:56

#14

OK Jan I am happy to send you the Lonchopterids and I hope you enjoy them. And as nobody turned up an address for the other ephydrid experts it looks like Tony is going to get to try his hand at them, as i will be packaging this afternoon.

Two more groups to add to the auction if anybody is interested, Sciomyzidae, which I was going to try myself, but I have no way to get the literature at the moment so I pass them on if someone has an interest and the second is Scathophagidae, which I simply forgot to mention before.

Thanks everyone

Posted by Nosferatumyia on 27-01-2008 10:05

#15

I am pretty sure that wetlands would bring up a few Ulidiidae and Tephritidae. Northern Greece has extremely interesting fauna, as Elena and I could see while collecting there. Any Macedonian or Epyrian material is velcome for forthcoming revisions, esp. Otites!

Posted by Gordon on 09-02-2008 17:15

#18

A quick update on the Project Kerkini Auction,

Sepsidae are now available again as Jean-Paul Haenni has had to accept that he is too busy, still he liked my bibionids.

And please, those of you who asked for stuff, let me know when you get it, I am getting tired of assuming stuff has reached its destination only to find out later the reason why I have no IDs coming back is because they never got the material. Two packages at least are two weeks over due from my mid January posting, and some I still don't know about, what the post office has against this project I don't know, but if everything has to go registered it will be expensive. I worry a lot. So please tell me what is going on, all your promised stuff went out last week.:D

Posted by Gordon on 10-02-2008 18:22

#21

Dear Gerard,
Thanks but I am happy to say, sorry all the popular brachycerans got snapped up back at the start, interestingly of the 12 conopid species recorded so far 10 are new records for Greece and the other two are new for the mainland. We have 69 syrphids and 12 stratiomyids so far also, but the stratiomyids might be more now that I will not be sending the smaller ones to the wrong people:(.

Posted by Gordon on 10-02-2008 18:31

#22

Dear Paul,
Aren't I sending you enough empids and hybotids that you are looking for more to do? But yes they are nice, there is a book on them in the list I have given my prospective employers, along with the dipteran families book, but who knows when I'll see it. Not before summer that is for sure.

Honestly Paul I can't remember how many tubes I sent to Jean-Paul, it was months ago. I have 10 tubes here, with between 1 and say 10 flies per tube. They are never very populous.

Today I brought in the first malaise samples of the year, and though I was amazed at how much stuff I caught, more than 15 dipteran families in one sample, there were no empids or hybotids, obviously they don't like winter any more than I do.

Even more surprising was 170 weevils, all looking very similar despite a great size range in one trap. This is by far the most weevils for one week. Maybe they were having a conference in the forest.:D

Posted by Gordon on 11-02-2008 11:25

#24

Dear Paul,
I have been in contact with Jean-Paul, and he says the Sepsidae I sent him amount to 17 tubes. I suggest I ask him to send these to you, and I keep my ten for some time in the future if you are still interested/willing, by when they will be more (tubes if not species)

Gordon