Thread subject: Diptera.info :: dark Tachinid - Phorocera cf. grandis
Posted by Sundew on 29-07-2016 01:30
#1
Hi,
My trip to southwestern Germany some weeks ago yielded some interesting flies. Unfortunately this Tachinid was not very patient, so I got only poor pics. Nevertheless I hope to get a name for this impressive animal.
Thanks in advance, Sundew
Edited by Sundew on 02-08-2016 01:40
Posted by Zeegers on 29-07-2016 08:17
#2
Could you be more specifici on the date ?
It definitely looks like the male of Phorocera grandis, which is pretty amazing. It is a specific parasoitoid of Euproctis and ... Thaumetopoea ! I wrote a small contribution on that matter in Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen some years ago.
Theo
Posted by Sundew on 29-07-2016 12:43
#3
What an interesting species! Tschorsnig & Wagenhoff (2012,
http://www.nadsdi...s/TT25.pdf) describe its occurrence and behaviour in Baden-Württemberg and found it north of Stuttgart. I saw this animal on 16 June in Renningen-Malmsheim, a small town west of Stuttgart. This is the end of the flight period of
P. grandis. My fly looks rather old already, the body dusting is largely gone... However, this is no proof for correct ID, and unfortunately there are no pictures showing the fore tarsus to fore tibia ratio. So we can only admit that there is quite a chance for my fly to be
P. grandis. (I suppose it is a
Phorocera for sure, only the species is uncertain?)
Edited by Sundew on 29-07-2016 12:44
Posted by Sundew on 02-08-2016 01:41
#4
Was this helpful, dear Theo?
Posted by Zeegers on 02-08-2016 07:34
#5
Well, as you know there are more features that the formal ones mentioned in the official books. You know, the 'jizzy' features.
A clear jizzy feature of Phorocera grandis is that the head looks big, due to the enlarged and silvery parafacial. In female more so than in male.
Knowing this and the date, I have no doubt that this is Ph. grandis.
Ph. assilimis is long gone, by then.
Theo