Diptera.info

Posted by ChrisR on 30-05-2007 23:31

This is an odd one from French Guyana. Size about 10mm in the body, plumose arista and looks to all the world like a brown callaphorid ... but it has a subscutellum. I'm not even sure it is a tachinid but with that subscutellum I can't think what else it could be.

Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 30-05-2007 23:54

according Oosterbroek in page 98 and 102 calliphoridae can have subscutellum??? Genus: Morinia, Melanomya and Angioneura... so beware. :D

Posted by ChrisR on 31-05-2007 00:02

Begs the question - if hypopleural bristles and a full subscutellum isn't enough to make a tachinid - then what *does* make a tachinid? :)

Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 31-05-2007 00:10

in that case, the things are much different. :)

I was reading with more care and they say that subscutellum of calliphorid is flat and not swollen.

Posted by Zeegers on 31-05-2007 08:36

As far as I know, hypopleural bristles + swollen postscutellum imply Tachinidae or Oestridae.
So, Tachinidae in this case.
Beware, however, that the reverse is not true (some Tachinidae have a flat postscutellum)

Theo

Posted by ChrisR on 31-05-2007 09:54

That's my understanding too then, I am glad I was right :) It's just genera like Lithophasia that make it all hard for us! ;)

This particular individual is just quite interesting because it looks so much like a brown callaphorid and the plumose arista is interesting because that's a feature we in Europe associate with dexiines but this look very different from any dexiine I have ever seen, so I am guessing it is part of a subfamily that we don't get here. :)

Posted by Zeegers on 31-05-2007 19:24

#10

Well, it's so different from Dexia, in my opinion.
Forget about the colours and look at the morphology.
Colours don't matter, at this level

Theo