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Hi,
Today it was very cold and grey, and the flies did hardly move. Good for taking photos, only the light could have been better. I found these two Bibios, male and female, but if really a couple? The female had nice red legs and remainders of fair hair on the thorax. The male was very big and black-haired and reminded strongly of B. marci. However, Theo will certainly say that this species is no longer active. So I wonder what ID will be given...
Many thanks, Sundew

female:

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male (sorry, no better pics):

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Hi, Sundew!



There are still many of them here... The redlegged female should be Bibio lanigerus.

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Yep, B. lanigerus seems to be a good choice for the girl. And you still see B. marci - that's interesting. I am quite convinced I saw B. johannis recently that should also "have gone home" already according to Theo. This very cold spring might confuse the flies ;).

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The male is either marci or leucopterus, I just can't tell, it might very well be leucopterus.

Did I say marci was off ?? That is not correct.
Johannis is off.
As for females, do base claims on males. Females lanigerus and johannis can be separated but are extremely similar.


Theo

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Sure, Theo, you didn't say a word about B. marci being off. I just guessed it from its name (March is over, St. John's Day not :)). So the male might be B. marci as well as B. leucopterus, that's good to know.
However, if B. johannis is definitely off, what is the male of the following pic? I found the black thorax hair and the shape of the hind foot sufficient to name it B. johannis, but at a second glance there is some fair hair around the legs... I met this fly on a meadow close to a canal on 8 May. These red-legged ones are difficult!
Thanks again for help to come, Sundew

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HO, stop,

marci = from St. Mark's, april 25th.

Has completely nothing to do with March.


I'm not sure about the most recent one, pity we can't see the stigma


Theo

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This name discussion gets increasingly interesting! So why is B. marci in German "Märzmücke" = "March Gnat"??? I thought it was my private idea to "dedicate" it to my son Marcus, but it seems to be officially so (not to my son, but the biblical Marcus of course).
Sorry, no stigma photo of the latter, I focused on the hind feet to avoid confusion with B. femoralis. At least the feet are clearly johannis-shaped :D!
Best wishes, Sundew