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Today I photographed this fly and tried to find its name. In Theo Zeegers's Sluipvliegentabel (Jeugdbond 1992) I found the male Nemoraea pellucida that looks like my fly, but he says that it's rare. So I doubt.
The antenna colour is different and it might be another fly.
Which Tachinid is this?
If more photos are needed I could supply them. I saw 2 species of this fly in Terneuzen, Netherlands.

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Thelaira sp. but I wouldn't like to say whether it is nigripes or solivaga :)

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Thanks for the comments. My fly has more orange en less white on the abdomen. What foto-details might be decisive for the species?
Is it a male or female?

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I don't think the problem is in the photo - it is very clear. But Thelaira spp. are variable in the features used in the keys. To identify them we need to know the width of the black abdomenal stripe and the number of large anterodorsal bristles on the middle tibia. In this case I think it is a bit intermediate between the 2 species but maybe Theo can use his experience to say which he feels it is closer to?

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Especially females can be very difficult.
Since this is a male, I have little doubt it is solivaga (see the bristles on tibia 2). Th. solivaga is only known in the Netherlands from Zeeland and Limburg province. And this one is from Zeeland....

Thanks

Theo

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To complete the series I made an extra photo of the middle tibia (ventral side). I collected 1 fly. Theo, if you want it for your collection I could send it to you. If so, please mail me your address.

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And a dorsal view:

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I think that's the ventral side of the mid-tibia, which won't show us much. The dorsal view of the abdomen does show it looks more like solivaga than nigripes though and I always bow to Theo's greater knowledge :)

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I made a crop of the middle tibia on the 1st photo (dorsal view):

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Hi Albert, yes that's a bit clearer - the bristles on the mid-tibia are all "large" so it looks like solivaga, as Theo sugested :) You just have to be a bit careful with Thelaira because you can get specimens that are not very clear (nigripes with more orange or solivaga with less - and more/less bristles) so I probably exercise more caution than I need to with this genus :)

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OK Chris, thanks for your explaination. This is the (front-upside) head:

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And here a more frontal-lateral view:

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That's nice - showing the plumose antennae and the very large eyes (that suggested Thelaira) really well :)

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Albert

Thanks for the offer, but I'll be off next month, so it'll have to wait.


Theo