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Hello
What's the ID of this tabanid with his green eyes
A+
Louis

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Another photo of this horsefly
Taken in NE of France, near Metz
A+
Louis

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I've never seen such fly, but I red that genus Atylotus has looks like this.
Nikita

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I agree with Nikita. It is Atylotus, but I'm not familiar with all the species, so can't say which one.

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among agrestis, flavoguttatus, fulvus, latistriata, loewianus, mallorcanus, quadrifarius, rusticus and venturi my keys say Atylotus quadrifarius,
-the pattern of the abdomen wiht 4 longitudinal stripes
-eye margin almost parallel
-no bands in the eyes
-antennae pale but reddish at the apex

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Hello Paqui
It's a species who leave only in warm country, South of France, Spain, ... The photo was taken in NE of France near the border of Luxembourg and Germany ?? Actualy, it maid 30? in NE of France ??

Louis

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no idea, i?m sorry, try to check your Atylotus records there, i?ve told the other species from here because of this, quadrifarius is the only one with that characters among those species, i hope it helps :|

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Thank you Paqui
Louis

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Hi Louis
I've been having another look at your pictures, and wonder whether it could be a variety of flavoguttatus? In any case, it would be worth trying to catch a specimen to find out exactly what it is. Good luck!:)

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1-eyes pubescent, even short.....2
- bare, or short, only visible with big "zoom", ..3

2- front callus big and united, brilliant colour... A. venturii
- callus small, separated or without them, black abdomen..A. latistriatus

3- vertex: 1 row of short white hairs...4
- vertex: 1 row of long yellow hairs, femora grey, black abdomen with 2 longituninal stripes.. A. flavoguttatus

4- yelowish species...5
- greyish species...6

5- well developed callosit..(callus)..A. loewianus
- callus small... A.fulvus

6- femora yellow, abdomen with black stripes..7
- femora grey, abdomen grey-green, reddish flagell.. A. rusticus

7- black abdomen with 2 yellow stripes... A. agrestis
- abdomen yellowish with 4 dark stripes... A quadrifarius

i?m not the one to tell how much diffrerent it could be a variety, but by the pictures of my book, flavoguttatus clearly has a almost black abdomen with just 2 narrow paler stripes
i haven?t written all the details of the keys, just a few, but if anyone?s intersted i can complete the text

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i don?t know in which part of spain quadrifarius has been recorded, but in case of colder weather it?s perfectly possible in the north (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Euskadi...) the "green" Spain, with atlantic weather ????

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Paqui -
I think what bothers me about quadrifarius was the colour of the femora in this specimen (too dark?) and the size of the frontal callus (too small). But I agree the abdomen colour is wrong for flavoguttatus, too. I guess we need more specimens to understand better the extent of variation in these species.
Best wishes

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:)

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Hello
This day, I've taken another fly of this genus in the same place, the eyes is a little different ??

Louis

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Perheaps the male of the first photos ??

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I'd say that you are correct - it is the male. But I'll leave it to Paqui to say what the species might be.
Maybe I'll join in later! ;)

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I have catch the male of this fly
Louis

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i?ll look males?keys

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I've just been comparing the pictures with some old specimens of Atylotus latistriatus, and I feel sure that they are pale examples of this species. In Britain, latistriatus is a saltmarsh species, but elsewhere it occurs in different habitats.
Is anyone famiiar with latistriatus in the field?
(I hope to get bitten by some next week!) :)

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Hello Tony
I've have photographed another male specimen of this species in an other place near my house

Louis

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Another photo of this male specimen

Louis

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oh my, i can only say they seem 2 different males to me

here you are male?s keys:

1- Vertex with on row of short white hairs----2
-- vertex with onme row of long white hairs, eyes with grey shor pubescence, abdomen with a wide dorsal black stripe-- A. flavoguttatus

2- Abdomen with yellow pilosity, in case it has black hairs too, they don?t form bands or defined spots---3
-- abdomen with black pilosity, forming bands or spots---5

3- abdomen with a dark stripe, narrow at least the 2 first tergites and becoming wider---- 4
-- abd black except from 2 areas yellow-reddish at the sides of tergites 2-3----A .rusticus

4- Head very wide--- A.fulvus
-- head more narrow, approx the same width of thorax---- A. loewianus

5- femora dark grey, at least at the basal half--- A latistriatus
-- femora yellow----6

6- abdomen with a wide black stripe and dark pilosity at lateral sides of tergites--- A agrestis
-- abd yellow-brown with 4 black stripes---A quadrifarius


*about quadrifarius it?s recorded from zones in mediterranean sea: spain, portugal--- russia, maybe not really common at NE france :|
*about falvoguttatus: recorded in spain, south of france, austria, turkey.
this records info is from 2002, maybe out of date...

i have descriptions of each species, but i let Tony puts his money on wghat he wants, not mine again :D

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Back from holiday I find these beautiful horsefly pictures.

I have little doubt that, given the locality, the species is A. rusticus.
They can be quite like latistriatus. Have a look at Alan Stubbs'plates and you will find a clear rusticus with a pair of dark vittae on tergites.
The males can have quite large yellow lateral spots on abdomen.


Theo Zeegers