Diptera.info

Posted by kschnei1000 on 06-02-2021 16:02

I collected this 7 mm male muscid in San Francisco and dissected the genitalia (my first attempt!) The available keys for muscids in North America are pretty tough to use and I am not aware of a genitalia-based key or atlas. Can anyone ID this to genus? I am attaching several images.

Thanks!
Ken

Edited by kschnei1000 on 07-02-2021 01:38

Posted by Nikita Vikhrev on 06-02-2021 21:29

Ken, do you have Huckett's Muscidae of Callifornia? (If not I can send you.)
It should be black Phaonia with presutural acrost. present, for example, Ph. caerulescens.
Check hars on hypopleura. Was it collected in spring?

Posted by kschnei1000 on 06-02-2021 22:04

#10

Nikita Vikhrev wrote:
Ken, do you have Huckett's Muscidae of Callifornia? (If not I can send you.)
It should be black Phaonia with presutural acrost. present, for example, Ph. caerulescens.
Check hars on hypopleura. Was it collected in spring?

Thanks Nikita! Yes, I have a copy of Huckett's Muscidae of California. I find it pretty difficult to use and some of the illustrations are confusing, but perhaps I need to use it with some museum reference specimens at hand... I should have posted the collection date - it was late January.

I am attaching a photo of the hypopleura, which appears to be completely bare to my eyes...

thanks again,
Ken

Posted by Nikita Vikhrev on 06-02-2021 22:29

#11

Ken, it seems to me that Huckett's "upper border of hypopleura" (= presently katepimeron) is hairy.
Is late January in Callifornia a springtime? (See Huckett's comment to Ph. caerulescens)

Edited by Nikita Vikhrev on 06-02-2021 22:40

Posted by kschnei1000 on 07-02-2021 01:36

#12

Nikita Vikhrev wrote:
Ken, it seems to me that Huckett's "upper border of hypopleura" (= presently katepimeron) is hairy.
Is late January in Callifornia a springtime? (See Huckett's comment to Ph. caerulescens)

Aha - thanks for pointing those hairs out, I missed them! :(

Yes, the phenology is very good (Huckett says commonly collected in my area in February and March) and he also says "adults may be readily recognized by the dark brown margins to the calyptrae" - I am attaching a photo of the calypters that seems to show that character well.

Thanks so much Nikita!

I guess the only question I have left is that it would be nice to compare my genitalia images with a reference illustration of P. caerulescens genitalia, just to get one more confirmatory character, although I don't doubt the ID now. It doesn't appear that either Huckett or Malloch illustrated the genitalia of this species, however.

Thanks again!!

Ken