Diptera.info :: Identification queries :: Diptera (adults)
 [Leucopis s.l.] Small greyish fly
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| pierred |
Posted on 13-06-2006 18:20
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 Member Location: Paris (France) Posts: 1484 Joined: 21.04.05 |
Hello, A tiny fly (3-5 mm) seen today in Paris: Any pointer ? Thanks in advance. pierred attached the following image:  [74.38Kb] Edited by pierred on 08-06-2007 07:00 Pierre Duhem |
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| Kahis |
Posted on 13-06-2006 21:26
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 Member Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 1999 Joined: 02.09.04 |
Leucopinae (Chamaemyiidae). Impossible to identify reliably without examination of male genitalia. Leucopis sensu lato has hundreds of species in Europe, it is one of the 'horrors stories' of European dipterology 
Kahis |
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| pierred |
Posted on 14-06-2006 05:27
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Member Location: Paris (France) Posts: 1484 Joined: 21.04.05 |
Kahis, Thanks. I'm already happy because I had thought it could be this family. Rather handsome, for this 'horror story'. Thanks again. Pierre Duhem |
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| pierred |
Posted on 08-06-2007 06:59
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Member Location: Paris (France) Posts: 1484 Joined: 21.04.05 |
Hello, I've found this little grey fly again amongst aphids. On Fauna europea, we only have 28 species for this family in France. Its larva feed on aphids and scales. pierred attached the following image:  [56.66Kb] Edited by pierred on 04-07-2007 06:39 Pierre Duhem |
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| pierred |
Posted on 08-06-2007 06:59
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Member Location: Paris (France) Posts: 1484 Joined: 21.04.05 |
Another picture :
pierred attached the following image:  [53.76Kb] Pierre Duhem |
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| Steve Gaimari |
Posted on 03-07-2007 16:34
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 Member Location: Sacramento, California, USA Posts: 169 Joined: 08.10.04 |
The first image and the latter images are all genus Leucopis (as pointed out by Kahis), but they are all in the subgenus Leucopis. So they are Leucopis sensu stricto. Yes, they are an absolute mess worldwide, but certainly the Palaearctic fauna is well characterized by the many works of Tanasijtshuk (especially 1986). That said, without male genitalia you might as well forget about a species identification! Cheers |
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| Kahis |
Posted on 03-07-2007 21:23
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Member Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 1999 Joined: 02.09.04 |
Steve Gaimari wrote: Yes, they are an absolute mess worldwide, but certainly the Palaearctic fauna is well characterized by the many works of Tanasijtshuk (especially 1986). Unfortunately - but perhaps understandably given the cold-war-time realities - much of Tanasiijtshuk's work was done without reference to type material of earlier described species. As a result of this, the identities of nearly all old names by European authors are still suspect to a degree  Some types have later been examined, but they are often females, which doesn't exactly help things along.
Kahis |
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| pierred |
Posted on 04-07-2007 06:44
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Member Location: Paris (France) Posts: 1484 Joined: 21.04.05 |
Steve, Thanks for the confirmation. For me, it is already very much to better understand the biology of this fly. The first picture wastaken on St John's Wort, with many aphids, but I didn't understand the relation between the presence of this fly and the aphids. The other picture were taken on Fallopia baldschuanica and this time it is quite clear that the female is laying eggs for the larva to feed on the aphids. Pierre Duhem |
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