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Thanks Eric ... yes, if I look a little "washed out" it is as a result of my tired brain trying hard to take in all the information Monty has been throwing at me for 2 days :D It's as much as I can do to write the det-labels, take notes on the host information, prepare the next round of specimens (he works so fast that you always have to have a dozen more tachinids ready) and try manfully to field the questions he asks me as he tests whether I have been paying attention for the last 48 hours! :D

The best part for me though has been to see how excited he has been to see the material I have collected over the last few years. I seem to have some really unusual species and that has whetted his appetite to visit French Guiana and has shown him variation and new forms that he has never seen before, which is no mean feat for someone as experienced as Monty :)