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These two flies were collected in the same North Wales wood on 11 October 2015, and they both key out to Clusiodes albimana. But they differ in colour, size and the bristles around the mouth. Alan Stubbs' 1982 key says “The face is normally dark in C. albimana but a scarce yellow-faced variety as been named pallidior; the genitalia seem to be very similar and the question of the taxonomic status of this form is left undecided.” Has there been any subsequent work on this species, please? Is the dark form always larger and more bristly? Might it be caused by the species having a variable larval life, those spending longer as a larva producing larger adults, as I think is the case with some saproxylic beetles?

John Bratton