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I would appreciate some help in identifying this female Hybomitra.
Taken on heathland 07 July 1987, Westleton, Suffolk, England.
Length 17mm.

Thanks.

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Head, frontal view.

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Head, side view.

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maybe Hybomitra cf. bimaculata

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or maybe distinguenda:D

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Apologies for bumping a very old thread and for not thanking Jorge and Tony T for their replies.

I was reminded of this specimen after reading a recent reply by Theo mentioning "the exclusively golden hairs on reddish markings" of H.distinguenda. That certainly applies here but what puzzled me was the fact that the first antennal segment appears partly pale and the front femora have entirely pale posterior hairs (neither obvious in these pictures).
Using the first edition of Stubbs and Drake therefore leads to H.ciureai.

I have other, typical specimens of these 2 species but this one seems to share characteristics of both. So which is it?

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Indeed it is very similar to this: http://www.dipter...pid=142180...

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In the south, like Turkey, ciureai lacks black hairs. Maybe this is true for (some in ) UK as well.
THe notopleural lobe is too yellow for distinguenda.
Please check the long hairs on the back side of front femur:
all black, all white or partly / partly ?

Theo

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Thanks Sundew and Theo. So it's looking like it may be H. ciureai then?

Here are a few more shots of the relevant bits.

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Notopleural lobe

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Fore femur

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Antennae

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Yes.

100 % ciureai. I totally agree it doesn't key out that way... .but it is !

Another argument is that the abdomen of distinguenda is more rectangular at the rear end, but this is a very jizzy feature.


Ciureai is supposedly rare in UK, which always surprises me, since it is common in NL.


Theo

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Thanks again Theo, that's wonderful.

It's an odd looking specimen. Even the palps look strange, with an almost total absence of dark hairs.

I'm going to create separate threads for what I hope are more typical individuals of the 2 species, collected from the same general area as this one.

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Hi, both ciureai and distinguenda were around in good numbers this Summer in this area of Suffolk. In the UK, ciureai is local to coastal marshes, prob why it is common with you Theo! The male is hard to find though, just one specimen this year.
Regards,
Steve

PS I completely agree with the jizz regarding the relative shape of the abdomen, it works well in the field

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Well, Steve, the males of distinguenda and muehlfeldi hover persistently, however, those of ciureai and bimaculata never ever hover at all.

They are, what I called in my Dutch key ' look-outers', they are sitting on leaves on the look-out for females. If this is above your head, they are very difficult to find indeed.
We have one record of a dozen of males at night at the street lamp.
Might be a clue.


Theo