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Hi,
In the southern outskirts of Berlin I saw this rather big fly today. It was busy running on the ground and checking the segetal vegetation and allowed for a shot in one angle only - sorry! My first thought was "Sarcophagidae"; when I saw the photos on the screen, however, I changed to "possibly a Tachinid". Is there any chance to identify a genus?
Many thanks, Sundew

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The face. (Seems to have lost a lot of its bristles!)

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Very nice fly - Baumhaueria perhaps? I have never seen this fly myself so I'm not 100% sure. :)

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All flies are nice, especially mine :D:D!
Baumhaueria - hmmm... All the photos I find of this taxon show much bigger arista-bearing antennal segments that point downwards. And mine seems to have a brownish scutellum. The overall appearance viewed from above was greyish, the abdomen not distinctly chequered like Sarcophagidae - let's say "blurrily chequered" (I know I need better glasses).
May be we get help from Theo or Erikas...

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Let's try again...

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I'll throw another name into the pot ... Spallanzania? :) Again, it's not one that I have ever had the pleasure of keying but they are very similar to the Gonia in their facial features.

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I have feeling that it is Spallanzania hebes, but I have not seen it myself, so Theo should confirm this. Nice find anyway!

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Yes, I can confirm it is Spallanzania and I only expect S. hebes around Berlin. To be honest, even that surprises me ! Great discovery


Theo

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Wow - great! So possibly a case for the gallery as "Spallanzania cf. hebes"? I wonder where to record such finds, for there should be a certain interest to monitor the entomofauna of Berlin. On the other hand, with no caught specimen we have no real positive proof...
Many thanks, dear Theo!