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I am very confused (not really anything new) about the differences between Anthomyia sp. and Limnophora sp. I thought this was the former, but it has been suggested that it might well be the latter. Can anyone help? Photographed yesterday in woodland near Rome, about 4/5 mm long.



Thanks, Sarah.

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Hi Sarah -
Have a look at these pictures of an Anthomyia female - http://www.dipter...#post_4330, then look at these ones of Limnophora -
http://www.dipter...post_11001 and
http://www.dipter...post_12490.
The markings are different, but look more at the overall shape and stance of these flies. Even if you can't see the venation or bristles, it's still possible to tell them apart. :)

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I read this through yesterday evening, then thought I'd better wait until this morning and read it through again, which I did. And I'm still not really sure :(. So this is Limnophora female (she said without too much conviction)?

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Sarah, check again, abdomen with strips or with spots?
Nikita

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And I thought it would be so obvious! ;)
This is an Anthomyia female. The features (apart from the markings) to look for - wings folded together over the abdomen, not held slightly apart; abdomen smaller than the thorax, and held downwards.
These are pointers rather than rules (for example the muscid Lispe holds its wings together), and many anthomyiids hold the abdomen straight out, rather than downwards.
Another pointer to distinguish Anthomyia and Eustalomyia (Anthomyiidae) from similarly marked muscids is that they have paler grey dusting with blacker markings. Muscids such as Limnophora have darker grey dusting so the markings do not contrast so much.
Is this beginning to make sense, or am I adding to the confusion even more? :p

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No, no, it's making perfect sense! I've quite a few flies in my archives which I've labelled almost automatically as Anthomyia. I'll go back and check them out now and see whether I can apply these criteria. Thanks tons to everyone for their patience. I'll learn sooner or later (I hope)! Sarah