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Presumably these are both Trichopoda pennipes? One has orange abdomen and the other black. Both on flowers of Mentha. Nebian, Herault, France, July 2007.

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and 2:

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Very good !
Neotropical species, noawadays quite common in southern France.

Theo Zeegers

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Thanks Theo.
Are the two colours male & female, and if so which is the male and which the female?
It was a real thrill to see this lovely fly, but I could not get a really good photo as they are very active flies.:@

Nigel

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This species is extremely variable in colouration, this variety has nothing to do with sexual dimorphism.

But I agree, it keeps surprising you.

Theo

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Isn't it unusual for Neotropical species to become established in France? Any idea how this happened? :|

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This is, actually, well known.
Trichopoda is a parasitoid of Nezara viridula, a bug common on vegetables and fruit. Therefore, Nezara has got to be cosmopolitan.
Trichopoda first entered Europe in the late 1960's in Italy (Genua, I believe). A probably second and independent entry occured some 10 years ago in Spain, Girona. BOth harbour places, mind you. Since then, Trichopoda has spread incredibly rapidly over Spain and the southern part of France, nowadays quite common at localities.

Theo

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Thank for the explanation, Theo. Nezara has now been recorded in Britain - it will be interesting to see if Trichopoda follows!

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theo, do you know other examples for neotropical flies that are turning more and more common in South Europe? :) (it can be other families if you know..)

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There are only a very few cases known to me:

This Stratiomyiidae: Hermetia illucens, reached Europe nearly 100 years ago.
in Tephritidae: several species of Rhagoletis, reached Europe recently. They have larvae either in Prunus serotina or Juglans.
Maybe others can add...


Theo

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Fannia pusio
I personally collected it in Senegal
Nikita

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Right today I found another example, Neotropical
Hydrotaea aenescens I collected in South Turkey.