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29 August 2007, New Brunswick, Canada.
This is the 1st Pollenia seen this summer; after being common in early spring. Suspect this is a recently emerged male as the hairs are white rather than the characteristic yellow/golden.
Ventral view shows a narrow band of sternites and can be compared to the ventral view of a Tachinid HERE where the tergites completely wrap around the abdomen such that no sternites are visible.

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IT's a Calliphorid and it looks indeed like/near Pollenia.

The feature of the sternites is interesting and useful but not completely reliable: most Phasiinae (Tachinidae) have sternites exposed, like most Calliphoridae / Sarcophagidae.


Theo

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Theo: It would be nice to have tidbits such as your comment re: sternites in some central location in Diptera.info; perhaps in the Glossary unmder several headings for this example - sternites, Tachinids (Phasiinae), Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae.

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That's OK with me. I must stress (can't repeat it all the time) that these are rules of thumb, there seem to be no absolute rules in Calyptratae. When you are familiar with some fauna, you just know the exceptions by heart. When you're not, you bound to make mistakes in one out of 20 cases, like the recent Sarcophagidae / Dexiini mistake. So be guided, but not misled by thinking these are absolute truths.

Theo

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Also interesting in this view is the way the first visible sternite sits on top of the tergites, whereas all the others are tucked under.

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That's common in Sarcophagidae and Calliphoridae, in my experience.


Theo

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Yes, I have seen it sometimes used in descriptions (eg Unwin) to help separate Tachinidae from other calyptrates especially Calliphoridae, Rhinophoridae and Sarcophagidae .