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Hi,

This might be one I had before but only had a dorsal view, Hylemya sp., I'm not sure.

6th November, on Ivy, my garden near Lincoln UK. Size ~5mm.

2 pics, 2 crops.

(title was Lasiomma strigilatum?)

Janet :)

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pic 2

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crop 1

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crop 2

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(had loading trouble!)

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Hi Janet,

I think not Hylemya because the arista is not conspicuously long-haired. What are we going to do without Joke?

Stephen.

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Thanks Stephen, but...

Where is Joke? :|

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Joke is going to be busy for a few months...posted on Shoutbox a couple of days ago ! But like you Janet, my powers of observation hasn't been anything to write home about either :|

Roger....anyone seen my white stick?

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No white stick here Roger! My powers of observation are good you see! :D Unlike you though, I don't shout in the Shoutbox so I missed Joke's post there. :P

I'm thinking this could be a Delia, maybe D. platura?

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This fly is beyond my competence, but I think if it had been a male D. platura we would see the blunt apical spine on the front tibia in the second photo.

I notice that several times Joke has used postocular hairs in a single row to indicate Botanophila against Delia, but this almost certainly only works in combination with other features we don't know about.

Stephen.

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Thanks Stephen, it seems in the absence of Joke we may become more competent in identifying these ourselves!

I am now often resorting to searching the site for past posts to see what I can find, this can bring up some of my past queries and I can tie up flies which I have had before which makes some sense as they would be breeding in the same places! I found a thread where Joke has mentioned these bristles,

http://diptera.in...ost_148393

Now I will have to search out Botanophila, I know I have had the female B. fugax and I had on the same day a female which I thought might belong with this male. I think that female is B. fugax!

There becomes a problem when trying to find look-alike flies such as this one in the gallery which looks so much like the female I have I was convinced it was Delia platura!

Off to search out Botanophila males...

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I think I'm getting close! ;)

I found a female I had previously which I thought might be Botanophila fugax which ended up being a likely Lasiomma strigilatum here. The female I got on the same day as the male could be the same species, at least the hairs on the eyes are visible.

Searching for Lasiomma strigilatum I found a male which looks much like mine which was a possible Lasiomma strigilatum.

http://diptera.in...ost_101867

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It may be worthwhile bearing in mind Michael Ackland's point on Dipterists Forum that 'it is almost impossible to find non-genitalic characters to characterise the genera. These are all based on mainly phylogenetic characters in the male and female genitalia'.
That point still has some relevance even to the relatively restricted British fauna.

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Lasiomma strigillatum has a very bristly hind tibia, nothing like this one. I think it is very unlikely that we will be able to identify this by looking at photos. At least till Joke comes back, I think 'Anthomyiidae male' will have to do :)

Stephen.

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Stephen, I agree it will have to remain nameless. :S

It was an education all the same!

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This looks like one of mine which Verner identified recently, Paradelia intersecta.

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This is exactly what it is: a small Paradelia species, and almost certainly intersecta. Notice only 2 pd setae on hind tibia which (normally) rules out Delia and Botanophila.

Season's Greetings
verner

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Thank you Verner! As I know I have Paradelia intersecta the chances are that is correct, we have 4 species.

http://www.dipter...p?id=17065