Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Top ten largest Diptera families?

Posted by ChrisR on 03-11-2006 11:13
#7

I think the main problem is we all have collecting bias. We have our favourite habitats and our favourite techniques. But (for example) how often does a person who likes tachinids decide to rear out flies from fungi from ancient woodland? ... not too often in my experience.

I think a lot of these groups that are very numerous but rarely studdied just inhabit habitats that are rarely visited and they are also quite 'insignificant' as adults and appear to look 'all the same', so people assume they haven't seen many species of them. A friend of mine specialises in Mycetophilidae so he likes to collect in damp woodland etc... and consequently he also comes up with tachinids that I rarely see because they parasitise fungi feeders. Meanwhile I am visiting places where I expect to see most tachinids - sunny, flower-rich places ... not the kind of place you'd find many mycetophilids or limoniids either :D

Like anything, if you decide to specialise in an unusual group and you look hard in the kind of places they like to inhabit then you'll find plenty :D