Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Blue fly

Posted by Isidro on 06-08-2007 17:05
#1

Pretty blue fly with reddish eyes.
Yesterday, Villanua, Huesca, Aragon, Spain. Medium Pyrenees mountain, some more than 900 meters high. Habitat: fir forest. Size and colour as a Calliphora but different-shaped.

img01.picoodle.com/img/img01/9/8/6/f_mosca3am_c0b247d.jpg
img01.picoodle.com/img/img01/9/8/6/f_mosca3bm_b6547b9.jpg

Thanks ;)

Edited by Isidro on 06-08-2007 19:34

Posted by Isidro on 06-08-2007 19:34
#2

Its's very beautiful... nobody knows it?

Posted by Stephane Lebrun on 06-08-2007 19:55
#3

Protophormia terranovae ?

Posted by Isidro on 07-08-2007 07:41
#4

Thanks Stephane... but it looks different for me. Protophormia terranovae feeds in dead animals and this one was in flowers. And the wings one above the other are not in this position in the images that I've found.

More opinions?

Posted by Susan R Walter on 07-08-2007 12:52
#5

Isidro

Protophormia larvae feed on carcasses, but the adults, like all Calliphorids, particularly males (which this is), will be found on umbellifers. Protophormia also often hold their wings much more tightly across their bodies than other Calliphorids. I think Stephane is pretty close with his ID.

Posted by Isidro on 07-08-2007 15:56
#6

Well. Thanks. But more opinions always are welcome :)

Posted by Zeegers on 07-08-2007 19:53
#7

This is a close relative, Protocalliphora male.
Protophormia is not that blue.
Protocalliphora is very common on Umbellifera in August. Protophormia is possibly quite rare on the Iberian peninsula.

There are several species of Protocalliphora, separated by male genitalia. By far the most common one is P. azurea.


Theo Zeegers

Posted by Isidro on 08-08-2007 00:20
#8

Many thanks Theo!!!!

Posted by Susan R Walter on 08-08-2007 12:58
#9

So sorry - getting my Proto's mixed up - it's Protocalliphora that I get sometimes here in Essex, small, very glossy blue, with wings held tightly across the back.

Theo to the rescue once again :D