Posted by Rui Andrade on 17-11-2022 01:02
#1
Hi,
I post this photo at the request of Michael von Tschirnhaus.
location: Caldas da Rainha (Portugal)
date: 13/10/2012
Posted by von Tschirnhaus on 20-11-2022 15:08
#2
Chloropidae, Chloropinae: Chlorops interruptus Meigen, 1830; nice image already correctly identified by Rui Andrade. Because of colour and size variability it is not easy to identify this species. Large females in my collection measure more than 5mm without antennae und cerci. Nartshuk & Andersson (2013, Faun. ent. scand. 43) describe the ocellar triangle as yellow different from this image and parts of my material. They also describe the abdomen as yellow. Duda (1932-1933 in Lindner) and Smirnov & Fedoseeva (1977, Zool. zhurnal 55(1976): 1659-1676, couplet 88) describe the ocellar triangle as laterally infuscated. Also in contrary, the tergites may be dark, but a central light longitudinal stripe is typical and it had induced Meigen for the scientific name. A lateral light stripe along the ends of the tergites [similar in geminatus Meigen] is also typical, see photograph. The small round eye and the protruding frons and deep gena make the head looking as if blown up. Very puzzling for identification is the unpublished observation, that some specimens (in series of my material) bear one or some black setulae on the dorsal part of the anepimeron (= mesopleuron) which places the species in quite different couplets of the different keys for Chlorops. A confirmed host grass genus is Elytrigia (= Agropyron).