Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Tachinidae with unusual wing venation
Posted by Susan R Walter on 06-07-2017 21:15
#1
This Tachinidae was photographed today on an iphone by my trainee ecologist in central lowland France. Chris Raper tells me it is definitely not Hypovoria as the m-cu vein isn't slanted enough. I assume we can rule out Uclesia as it is apparently a very early flying species. I don't know what other possibilities there are. Anyone have any ideas?
Posted by Susan R Walter on 06-07-2017 21:16
#2
Another view, slightly better.
Posted by Zeegers on 07-07-2017 07:30
#3
Dear Susan
Clearly a Zeuxia cf. Cinerea.
Theo
Posted by Susan R Walter on 07-07-2017 08:19
#4
Thank you Theo. Now that you say what it is, of course it is clearly a match! Five species of Zeuxia in France, one of which, zernyi, I assume I can eliminate because M1 meets R4+5 at the wing edge, not before in the pictures I have seen. Brevicornis not listed for France, and petiole on R5 looks too long to fit the description of subalpina. That leaves only aberrans and sicardi as possibilities (I don't have descriptions for them).
Posted by ChrisR on 07-07-2017 09:01
#5
Of course. My brain wasn't working yesterday - I blame a combination of a) doing the ID on my phone; b) 30C + humid commute; c) 4 hour delays and having to fight across London to a different station
Edited by ChrisR on 07-07-2017 09:02
Posted by Susan R Walter on 07-07-2017 09:06
#6
I think that is a perfectly reasonable excuse. Yesterday was a stinker, and I don't know how anyone sees anything on a phone in a moving vehicle, much less is able to concentrate on crowded public transport.
Posted by Susan R Walter on 07-07-2017 09:53
#7
OK. Ignore what I said above about zenyi wing venation. The one featured in the Diptera.info gallery has much the same wing venation as other Zeuxia. However, it has a lot of orange on the abdomen. I think the choice is between cinerea and sicardi.
Posted by Zeegers on 07-07-2017 20:02
#8
Sicardi is even redder than zernyi...
Posted by Susan R Walter on 08-07-2017 13:39
#9
Thanks Theo, good to know. Sicardi certainly seems to be darker than the photo above, and Chris commented that his specimens are dark (but greasy). The pictures in the gallery don't seem to show large areas of red on the abdomen, but the closeups show red points. Is there a certain amount of sexual dimorphism, with males redder than females in Zeuxia? My conclusion is that the above is almost certainly Z. cinerea, but we can't say so for absolutely sure because the photo is so poor.
Posted by Zeegers on 11-07-2017 16:44
#10
I am 1200 kms from my collection, but sicardi is bigger, broader etc. This is not sicardi and I have little doubt it should be cinerea. As you say, we can't see all details, so working partly on "jizz" here.
Theo