---

Is this a Phaonia sp?

---

Lateral view.

---

I'd say this was Muscina levida male. (Orange tip to scutellum, black legs and antennae, vein M curved forwards slightly.)

---

I reidentified this species as Muscina prolapsa male. In M. levida the palps should be black, which are almost entirely orange here.

I think the curve in vein M is a really bad marker, because it tends to vary, so overlaps may occur.

---

Hi Gabor -
The palps (and the second and third antennal segments) look black in the photos. Only the labellum of the proboscis is orange. I'm sticking with levida.:p

---

Tony, could you look through my Azellinae subfamily page to see if all Muscina prolapsa are than Muscina levida in fact.

There are additional images of this very fly showing the characterisics in question.

---

OK. You have both species represented - it's an excellent reference series showing the characters that separate the species.
Muscina levida (all black antennae and palps, less curved M) - 491170, 49174, 49184, 54153, 54155, 54156.
Muscina prolapsa (orange palps, tip of second antennal segment and base of third segment, more curved vein M) - 46743, 49690, 49691, 49693, 49694, 49781, 49783, 49784, 50697, 50699, 50700, 50702, 54019.
The are other minor differences in abdominal bristle length, dusting pattern, eye separation, etc.
Hope this helps! :)

---

Tony, I think I got the point!

I managed to clean up my Muscina images. Both levida and prolapsa seem to be common here, both are variable in terms of general appearance and can look very pale grey to almost dark.