Posted by zcuc on 05-04-2008 10:37
#1
Hi,
I know it's long shot but it is possible to identify this Calliphoridae from Israel?
Posted by zcuc on 05-04-2008 23:29
#4
wow,
I did expected that. I thought that L.sericata are green and this one is mixed with a cooper color.
Susan, After you focused me on the genus I found on "Keys to genera and species of blow flies of america north of mexico" this quote:
It can be separated from L. cuprina by the presence of 2-5 setae on the central occipital area below the inner vertical setae.
And indeed I found those marked with red arrow.
The only other resemble sp. in the paper is L. thatuna quote:
can be separated from L. thatuna by the width of the first flagellomere
But sadly I have nothing to compare to.
Posted by Susan R Walter on 06-04-2008 11:54
#5
Thanks for checking other species - I had indeed forgotten that you were in Israel and I was thinking European. I'm afraid I don't know
L thatuna at all, and my experience of trying to separate
Lucilia by comparison of the antennae is that it is a pretty hopeless task - certainly in photos. We can discount it though, because it is a rather rare North American species, and Whitworth also notes that it tends to have a blueish sheen rather than the coppery look of
cuprina and
sericata.
Your specimen is old and very faded. Metallic green flies tend to go coppery with age, and you can see that the edge of her wings are raggedy.
I would expect both
sericata and
cuprina to be common for you in Israel, but
sericata is much more likely than
cuprina in an urban environment.