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I am having trouble with this one. I only have one angle on a very dark/rainy day. I could use some help placing this one in a family.

Eyes are hairy (white/gray hairs)

Thank You for your time.

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Yes, a very confusing one... It is a Tachinidae to me but mainly because I cannot think of any Sarcophagidae with such hairy eyes (Sarcophagidae is one of my Nemesis families though ;) ) A dorsal view would have been most helpful :(

Wait for Theo, he surely can help you :)

By the way, I sent you a private message a couple of days ago. I don't think you have seen it. I also left you my e-mail in another thread but also I think you have missed that :-(

Please, get in touch with me here: pilucaaf@gmail.com

Thanks! :)

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I agree with Piluca. Around Berlin, in the sense of in the Palaearctic, anything with hairy eyes cannot be a Sarc. I am a bit careful here. The first time I saw a Calliphora with hairy eyes, I was flabbergasted. But it is from Australia.

Theo

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Thank You both for helping. I don't think that Sarc have hairy eyes but I have not met any Sarc outside of Sarcophaga genus. Thus, I figure it is best to confirm Tachinidae. The shape of the head throws me off a bit.

I only have a few photos that show wing venation and abdomen. I will add them to the thread. The fly didn't want to pose for me. I tried to change angles, then it flew away.

My instinct leads me to Exoristinae. I wonder if it is Exorista but I think that only grandis has hairy eyes? I am frustrated that I don't have a specimen.

Also, I am sorry for not mentioning that the month is September of 2016. I've wanted to id this since last year but I am always so very busy. I have a Wife and a Son that keep me busy too :) My Wife works alongside me. We both like Tachinids but we have yet to formally study Tachinidae. We spend alot of time with Lepidoptera. As you may allready know, I study spiders and birds. I am one of few people that love spiders :) I sometimes have trouble dissecting epigynum, so I usually spend hours in the lab. Spiders less than 2 mm can be very difficult to work with.

Anyway, I will quickly add some extra photos...

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partial wing venation, abdomen

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head and thorax

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Piluca, I prefer my email be private. I don't want spammers sending me junk mail. Besides, my Wife deserves the respect of not communicating privately with females. I will make some coffee now, then I will read your message...

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I've sent a pm to you Piluca.

I hope that you have a Wonderful Day.

PS. Villa cingulum is quite different from all other Iberian Villa. Thus, identification of this species is very easy. I am positive that your keys will be a welcome publication for the Iberian Peninsula.

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I agree, it most certainly looks like a female Exorista grandis.
However, the date is off. That bothers me.


Theo

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Thank You for your Time and expertise Theo. I respect your opinion always.
I will move on from this one. I certainly don't expect a species level-id with these photos. I was hoping to reach a genus because this one is very pretty to me. I wish I woul've capured it.

Meantime, the date is actually August 30. Sorry for typing September. I was looking at photos from September at the time of the post. You should know that Berlin is strange to me. I find spiders and insects two-to-three weeks before or after they are supposed to active. Tschorsnig mentions early August, so end of August would be normal for Berlin.

I will be sure to collect this year. I will try to find it again at the same location. If I can get it, then I will be happy to send it to you. If it is grandis, then we have new data about it. I remember that it was hiding a bit in the foliage of low lying plants. I was hunting for spiders when I saw it. I didn't see it after this time period.

Unless you wish to view original photos, then we can move on. I am happy.
Thank You very much. I hope that you have a Splendid Day.

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I had another close look and noticed the projecting mouth margin.
So I was wrong: it is a female Linnaemyia.

Theo

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yes! better match. Thank You very much Theo. You are Awesome!

The entire head looks odd to me. I couldn't place it anywhere. I have yet to look at Linnaemyia. The species in question is my first encounter with this genus. I am happy.

note: the 300kb limit requires cropping. If you ever wish to see a larger image, then just ask. I can send it to you. No problem.

Thank You!

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Female Linnaemyia are very difficult to identify, I am not going to speculate on that. The locality and the strong projecting mouth margin suggests either tessellans or picta.

Theo

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I am no way qualified to identify Tachinidae at this point in time. Especially without a specimen. I depend upon your posts, Theo, to learn more about them. I always read every thread about Tachinidae with a Zeegers post :) I am only familiar with about ten gernera. I have alot of studying to do.

I find that Tschorsnig is superb if you have a specimen under a microscope. Otherwise, Tschorsnig is not helpful for finding a genus based upon a photo.

I decided to peruse Linnaemyia keys in Tschorsnig last night. I figure that it must be tessellans because Tschorsnig mentions that picta has yellow tibiae.

Even so, I will have to collect a specimen. I will just use the photos for reference without naming it. I am learning that alot of Tachinidae are difficult to id without a specimen.

Thank You for helping me with this one, Theo. You are Wonderful!

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Tschorsnig is so much easier to,operate than the old Mesnil-keys, I totally agree.
For identification of photos at generic level: www.tachinidae.eumis most useful, since you can enter what you can see and can leave out the rest.

As for tessellans, yes, that is a valid argument, yet the humerus is too yellow for tessellans. Saying that the tibiae are yellow in picta is incorrect, it is more like dark red. So, this picture is in between, that why I am reluctant to give a definetive ID.

Theo