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Hi,
In a large wood in southern Brandenburg there are wet places where the wild boars use to wallow. In the beginning of October I saw many silvery female flies drinking on the wet soil, and they looked like Empidids. Some males were also present that were much darker, and I do not know whether they belonged to the same species or not. Here I show some pictures of the females and would really like to know who they are. Thanks for any help, Sundew

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More pics from another year.

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Hilara

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Thanks for the genus! So perhaps Hilara galactoptera? (There are similar photos in the internet - if reliable?) As I saw them only on the margin of the wet wallows, the ecology might be peculiar...

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Perhaps Paul knows a bit more?

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I know there are a few whitish ones but do not have my books with me to check.

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Hilara albitarsis von Roser, 1840 (female)

You noted males of this species.

Igor

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I appreciate your help, dear Igor!
Well, there are no good photos of males. I concentrated on the many silvery females, as they seemed to belong to the same species. The males were few, and they looked dark, so I thought of something different and hardly IDable. The following pic shows two photos of the same dark male; the lowermost grey one is quite blurred and seems to be a male, too, but greyer than the upper. The wet soil attracted so many flies that were not necessarily closely related; the silvery females, however, seemed visibly in the majority.

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Dear Sundew,

The upper and middle pics are Microphor holosericeus (Meigen, 1804). The lowermost is Hilara male.

All the best,

Igor

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Igor, you amaze me! What you look out of my bad pics is really great. Thank you so much!