Thread subject: Diptera.info :: [Leucopis s.l.] Small greyish fly

Posted by pierred on 13-06-2006 18:20
#1

Hello,

A tiny fly (3-5 mm) seen today in Paris:
Any pointer ?

Thanks in advance.

Edited by pierred on 08-06-2007 07:00

Posted by Kahis on 13-06-2006 21:26
#2

Leucopinae (Chamaemyiidae). Impossible to identify reliably without examination of male genitalia. Leucopis sensu lato has hundreds of species in Europe, it is one of the 'horrors stories' of European dipterology ;)

Posted by pierred on 14-06-2006 05:27
#3

Kahis,

Thanks. I'm already happy because I had thought it could be this family.

Rather handsome, for this 'horror story'.

Thanks again.

Posted by pierred on 08-06-2007 06:59
#4

Hello,

I've found this little grey fly again amongst aphids. On Fauna europea, we only have 28 species for this family in France.

Its larva feed on aphids and scales.

Edited by pierred on 04-07-2007 06:39

Posted by pierred on 08-06-2007 06:59
#5

Another picture :

Posted by Steve Gaimari on 03-07-2007 16:34
#6

The first image and the latter images are all genus Leucopis (as pointed out by Kahis), but they are all in the subgenus Leucopis. So they are Leucopis sensu stricto. Yes, they are an absolute mess worldwide, but certainly the Palaearctic fauna is well characterized by the many works of Tanasijtshuk (especially 1986). That said, without male genitalia you might as well forget about a species identification!
Cheers

Posted by Kahis on 03-07-2007 21:23
#7

Steve Gaimari wrote:
Yes, they are an absolute mess worldwide, but certainly the Palaearctic fauna is well characterized by the many works of Tanasijtshuk (especially 1986).


Unfortunately - but perhaps understandably given the cold-war-time realities - much of Tanasiijtshuk's work was done without reference to type material of earlier described species. As a result of this, the identities of nearly all old names by European authors are still suspect to a degree :( Some types have later been examined, but they are often females, which doesn't exactly help things along.

Posted by pierred on 04-07-2007 06:44
#8

Steve,

Thanks for the confirmation.

For me, it is already very much to better understand the biology of this fly. The first picture wastaken on St John's Wort, with many aphids, but I didn't understand the relation between the presence of this fly and the aphids. The other picture were taken on Fallopia baldschuanica and this time it is quite clear that the female is laying eggs for the larva to feed on the aphids.