Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Rhagionidae: Chrysopilus laetus

Posted by Sundew on 30-07-2022 01:10
#4

That's a tricky male! According to the key in https://www.resea...hagionidae luteolus males have yellow tergites with at most a narrow dark band at the front edge. In the other two species of the luteolus group (nubecula and laetus) the tergites are said to have broad darker transverse bands. In your male, the posterior half of the abdomen is dark, the anterior half light. If we decide on "dark transverse bands", we are stuck, however, because now the shape and size of the clypeus is species-decisive. And you don't have a close-up of the face. So possibly laetus or nubecula or, less probable, a miscoloured luteolus (?)... Maybe Theo has an idea!
Best wishes, Sundew