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Is it possible to get genus and perhaps species of this round 15 mm long fly.

Photo from Nattsjön, Ångermanland, Sweden 62.53N 17.45 E 7 august 2010

Thanks for your help in advance

Regards

Kurt Holmqvist

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And a closeup

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The numbers of antennal segments (>13) indicates this fly is in the family Limoniidae and probably in the genus Limonia .

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Thanks for correction Chen
Kurt Holmqvist

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I try to raise this one once again.

Greatful for help
Kurt Holmqvist

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I am not at all specialized in Tipuloidea at all, but is this not a Nephrotoma, so Tipulidae?

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No Ruud, from what I've seen Nephrotoma have different thorax colouring, usually pale yellow with strong black marks but there may be other differences and variations. I'm not an expert either. ;)

I thought I wasn't going to find this, but I think I have! The dark wing markings (including the spot) and colour, as well as description match Metalimnobia bifasciata.

From the key: (which is sideways on so I'm getting a kinked neck!.. and it keeps disappearing when I type :S)

Body bright shining yellow top or thorax with a pair of black stripes. Wing short, broad, strongly yellowish with a narrow dark bar across wing below the stigma.

I snipped the wing off the key (hoping I'm not doing anything wrong!) Although everything does fit there;'s no mention of the dark marks on the abdomen but I'm not sure if that matters? It was also first put as orange but changed to yellow.

Janet

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Janet, thanks a lot for the explanation! Very interesting. It is a pity that the Tipuloidea receives so little attention from the amateurs. It is indeed a fascinating group. When I started to look at diptera, ages ago, as a teenager, I thought of starting to collect Tipulidae, but realized soon that insect-boxes are getting very quickly full with them! ;)

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Janet, I don't know which program you use for opening the key but normally you can rotate the pages. This is how to do it in Acrobat reader:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2248717_rotate-page-adobe-acrobat.html

There might be a similar option in the program you use...

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Thanks Kim, I will check that out! I did know about rotating pages but these are in a pdf. I saved to my Documents where the pages follow on from each other vertically of course but each page is photocopied sideways so I don't know if it would work. The only other option is to snip each page and save them to my pictures where I can rotate them and view successionally in a folder which is beginning to sound like a good idea but I might not be able to fit a complete page in the snip. I've really only started using the key.

I found a drawing of Metalimnobia bifasciata on delta-intkey.. it does have dark marks on the abdomen.

http://delta-intk...moniid.htm

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Maybe we can do something about that! I'm not collecting, but I also think this group receives too little attention. It's really only those which have definite wing pattenrs and don't need the male genitals which can be done from good pics but that will have to be enough for me. I don't do little boxes :P

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Well, Janet, it is not my intention to deal with the nematocera as well. I am already busy enough with the Empidoidea, Conopidae, Stratiomyidae, Lauxaniidae, Heleomyzidae, Pipunculidae and Platpezidae. If I will do something extra it is with Phoridae....and for this family alone 1 life is not enough ;)

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Thanks a ot for your efforts Janet an Ruud.

We seems to have Metalimnobia bifaciata, quadrinotata, zetterstedti and quadrimaculata in Sweden.

Kurt Holmqvist