Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Chloropidae 1->Gaurax sp.

Posted by nielsyese on 29-01-2013 18:53
#1

Collected in the Netherlands. I got a lot of unidentified Chloropidae here, but this one caught my attention because of the pattern on the thorax? Maybe genus can be told?

Edited by nielsyese on 14-05-2013 17:53

Posted by nielsyese on 29-01-2013 18:53
#2

Lateral view

Posted by Sara21392 on 01-02-2013 12:58
#3

I thought maybe Gaurax sp., but the photos are not clear and I can just say Oscinellinae.

Posted by John Carr on 01-02-2013 14:51
#4

Could this be a worn Phytomyzinae?

Posted by Terry Wheeler on 02-02-2013 22:17
#5

Your thought was a good one, Sara - it is Gaurax.

I won't guess on species because I don't know the European species as well as the Nearctic.

Posted by von Tschirnhaus on 13-05-2013 18:08
#6

I agree with Terry and Sara: Gaurax Loew, 1863 (female). Gaurax spp. are extremely difficult to identify as their colouration is very variable and as no revision exists. Males possess complicated species-specific genitalia which must be dissected for exact determination. But the types of the described species partly have not yet been ordered to the published figures of genitalia. Females (more abundant than males) normally cannot be identified to the species level, only together with series of males. Several Gaurax spp. repeatedly have been reared from mushrooms/fungi, especially from polypores but also from bird nests and cones of conifers. The 3rd antennal segment of all species is shorter than deep (= high), eyes possess a metallic sheen (alife and in alcohol), the wing cell between costa and subcosta is wider than in most other Oscinellinae, well to be seen in this image. Gaurax spp. are rare in sweep net samples!

Posted by nielsyese on 14-05-2013 17:53
#7

Yes, it's a pity this isn't a male. It was collected in a forest by sweeping. Although I sweep a lot, I never noticed a Gaurax before, so I can believe they are rarely collected in this way.