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Fly in the throes of death<Trichoceridae sp.
Roger Thomason	#1 Posted on 01-10-2008 13:02
Member Location: Mossbank,Shetland Isles. Posts: 5248 Joined: 17.07.08	Found this little lady dying on kitchen worktop. Who is she? Now composting nicely in a plant pot. Regards Roger. Roger Thomason attached the following image: [188.13Kb] Edited by Roger Thomason on 01-10-2008 19:55


Roger Thomason	#2 Posted on 01-10-2008 13:03
Member Location: Mossbank,Shetland Isles. Posts: 5248 Joined: 17.07.08	Pic. 2 Roger Thomason attached the following image: [165.99Kb]


Roger Thomason	#3 Posted on 01-10-2008 13:04
Member Location: Mossbank,Shetland Isles. Posts: 5248 Joined: 17.07.08	Last rites Roger Thomason attached the following image: [175.73Kb]


Jan Willem	#4 Posted on 01-10-2008 14:17
Member Location: Waalwijk, The Netherlands Posts: 2126 Joined: 24.07.04	I would say she is a winter crane fly (Trichoceridae). Jan Willem van Zuijlen


Roger Thomason	#5 Posted on 01-10-2008 14:33
Member Location: Mossbank,Shetland Isles. Posts: 5248 Joined: 17.07.08	Thanks for that Jan Willem, I have 4 types on the old checklist; Trichocera annulata, T.hiemalis,T. regelationis and T.saltator. Anybody able to ID further. Photo's in Gallery not much help. Regards Roger.


Andrius	#6 Posted on 06-10-2008 11:41
Member Location: Lithuania Posts: 315 Joined: 27.01.05	Well, I'll try to say my opinion: This is NOT Trichocera annulata - abdomen has no visible dark bands NOT T. saltator - ovipositor is too short for saltator NOT T.regelationis - I don't see dark spot on r-m vein and distal tarsomeres are too long for regelationis So T.hiemalis is what's left from your list, although I'm not absolutely sure about it too... This could well be something else Andrius Edited by Andrius on 06-10-2008 11:43


Roger Thomason	#7 Posted on 06-10-2008 11:51
Member Location: Mossbank,Shetland Isles. Posts: 5248 Joined: 17.07.08	Thanks for that Andrius-I'd given up on this one. Nice to hear from Lithuania . Regards Roger


kitenet	#8 Posted on 08-10-2008 13:30
Member Location: Buckinghamshire, UK Posts: 118 Joined: 04.05.06	I think it will be difficult/impossible to confirm this one , Alan Stubbs' key focuses on the males, and although he illustrates the female cerci the differences between the species are (to my eyes) very subtle (including a short-ovipositor form of T. saltator). As you probably know there are at least 10 species of Trichocera in Britain, don't know how many of them could be present on Shetland. Martin Martin Harvey


Andrius	#9 Posted on 09-10-2008 10:05
Member Location: Lithuania Posts: 315 Joined: 27.01.05	Hi, Well, the best way in this case to confirm the species would be the preparation of genitalia. At least the four species from the Shetland list can be separated by the form of internal genital structures As we were already told, the current specimen is already nearing it's omega point and coming back into the global energy cycle, so we will never know what that was Andrius Edited by Andrius on 09-10-2008 10:07


Roger Thomason	#10 Posted on 09-10-2008 20:16
Member Location: Mossbank,Shetland Isles. Posts: 5248 Joined: 17.07.08	Hi Isn't it great that at a time banks and politicians have us by the collective genitalia (without much thought),that we can spend so much time concerned with the genetalia of a fly that is no more than 8mm in length. We will never be politicians or bankers. Thankfully...Roger Edited by Roger Thomason on 09-10-2008 20:20