Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Muscid fly? Polietes lardaria?
Posted by nick upton on 16-03-2010 18:03
#1
Can anyone identify this fly with any certainty?
Photographed on 5th September 2009 feeding on Ivy flowers in a Wiltshire UK garden.
To a non expert like me there are a lot of flies around that look at first glance a bit like the common flesh fly Sarcophaga carnaria, but I'm starting to tune into differences better and i think the wing veins are all wrong here and this was a bit less "big and bristly" than a flesh fly.
NickU - Generalist naturalist and photographer.
Posted by Stephane Lebrun on 16-03-2010 22:32
#2
Not with certainty, but I'd say you're right with
P. lardarius.
Posted by nick upton on 16-03-2010 22:58
#3
Thanks again, Stephane. Good to know I may be starting to recognise some flies to species level OK.
Nick
Posted by Jan HC Velterop on 04-06-2010 18:56
#4
It's certainly Polietes lardaria: the front spiracle is very darkhaired. In Polietes meridionalis the spiracle is clear yellow. In the field you can even observe different eye colour if both species are present, which can be helpful to detect whether both are present on that locality. Jan HC
Posted by nick upton on 06-06-2010 22:23
#5
Hi Jan, many thanks for the confirmation and extra detail.
N