Posted by colinleb on 17-08-2021 09:57
#1
Having trouble with this specimen. Femora very dark but some surfaces, e.g. posterior face of front femur, look a bit orangey from some angles rather than black. No definite contrasting orange/black pattern. Mix of black/white hairs on frons and arrangement of hairs/bristles on sternites appear to rule out
Machimus atricapilla. Compared with specimens of
M. cingulatus and measurements in Stubbs and Drake seems rather too big for either of those species anyway. From a close look at the ovipositor, best fit might be
Eutolmus rufibarbis? However tergites are dark at margins rather than pale. Not from a known location either. Rough grassland between old woodland and lake on Bedfordshire Greensand, UK. Thoughts? Swept 11 August 2021.
Posted by Danny Wolff on 17-08-2021 16:45
#5
I see no reason why this should not be atricapillus. Everything is fitting. Body length of living specimens (or specimens that have just been killed) is often bigger than given in literature (in some cases body length is decreasing more than 10-15 % during the drying process).