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Hello everyone,
I have a problem telling if some of my specimens are Bombylius discolor or B.medius. Mark van Veen in his online key (http://home.hccne...ylius.html) says that those species are separated by color of body ventral hair - black in discolor, yellow in medius. 'Keys to European Part of the USSR' say that end of the abdomen of discolor is black whilst in medius it is yellow or almost white. Are there any other charecters used, or color is just enough?

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Hello, I´m sorry I can´t help, but I can add their separation (my translation may need corrections):

** in Engel (1938), for "groups of species"
- all terguites with "yellow" (light) hairs wirh some longer black hairs, last terguites often with witish hairs. Also sternites light coloured excepting the first (dark brown) -> B. medius group)
- last 3-4 terguites with "dense brownblack" hairs and a white haired central longitudinal stripe that in males could be not evident. Sternites with black-brown hairs -> (B. discolor)

** In Faune de France (Séguy, 1926)
- femora with dense black basal hairs, abdomen: apex and sternites with black or brown hairs -> B. discolor
- femora with a few hairs (pilosité médiocre), abdomen with light colour hairs -> B. medius

Kind regards

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Thank you, I will try those! Seguy's notice about hairs on femora looks interesting and easier to tell apart :)