Diptera.info

Posted by Didier on 23-09-2006 22:44

Hello,
Could you confirm that picture shows a Tephritis bardanae.
If I refer to the Diptera Gallery. it seems to have the same pattern on the wings and the same color for the eyes and the thorax.
It was feeding on a pear in my garden (Rennes / France) !!!
static.flickr.com/108/250714157_ce69fbf3bd.jpg

static.flickr.com/108/250714157_ce69fbf3bd.jpg

static.flickr.com/97/250714155_7c66a13710.jpg

Kind regards.
Didier.

Edited by Didier on 16-10-2006 21:54

Posted by Didier on 24-09-2006 02:50

Thank you Nikita to make me look more closely to the photography of Thephritis bardanae in the Diptera Gallery and to see that the wings pattern, if it is not so far, doesn't match the pattern of my fly's wings.
I have now to wait for the ID.
Regards.
Didier.

Posted by Jan Willem on 24-09-2006 14:57

It doesn't look like Actinoptera to me. I think it is a Tephritis species, but which one?????? Not bardanae!

Jan Willem

Posted by John Smit on 07-10-2006 12:51

Hi,

Oke it took me a while, sorry!
It is indeed a Tephritis and to my opinion it is T. divisa.
This species belongs to the separata-speciesgroup, including T. divisa, T. mutabilis and T. separata, all of which are very difficult to separate.
It aint T. mutabilis, for that one always has a clear spot in cell
r2+3, before crossvein r-m. To my opinion it also aint T. separata, for this normally has a clear spot in cell r1, and the spot just beyond crossvein r-m in cell r2+3 is normally bigger and not so perfectly conituous with the clear spot above in cell r1. Besides the wingcoloration of T. divisa has a 'smoother' or 'neater' impression than that of T. separata, that is more disturbed, with more small clear spots.

Best wishes,

John

Posted by Didier on 09-10-2006 21:59

Dear John,
thank you very much for the identification.
It seems that Tephritidae even if they have patterns on the wings, are not really easy to identify.
I suppose there is no global document key on that family when I see the number (68) of genus on Fauna Europea I can understand that this is not an easy group.

Could you tell more on the biology of Tephritis divisa Rondani 1871 ?
Kind regards.
Didier.

Posted by John Smit on 10-10-2006 11:33

Dear Didier,

It's not like it's impossible to identify them!
T. divisa breeds, according to Merz (1994) in Picris echioides. It has been found in England as well, in spite of the distributional information in Merz (1994) who mentiones the Mediterranean. This is however still unpublished, I recall it has been swept from Picris as well, though I don't known which species. I'll have to look it up.

Best wishes,

John