Diptera.info :: Identification queries :: Diptera (adults)
 ID, please.Tachinid, Phryxe cf. nemea
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| Ginks |
Posted on 15-04-2012 16:36
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 Member Location: Mid-Essex Posts: 69 Joined: 05.01.12 |
I found this fly in the front garden a few hours ago. The weather has been very changeable all day. The fly appeared to be drying out/resting/sunning itself. Mid-April, 2012, Mid-Essex. Thanks! Ginks attached the following image:  [199.45Kb] Edited by Ginks on 29-04-2012 23:58 TTFN, Ginks http://www.flickr...ug-hunter/ |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 15-04-2012 16:47
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 Super Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7706 Joined: 12.07.04 |
Yes, Tachinidae ... but I'm not sure which species 
Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| Ginks |
Posted on 15-04-2012 18:42
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Member Location: Mid-Essex Posts: 69 Joined: 05.01.12 |
Thanks. Is my photo not detailed enough? I can't get any closer with my compact. This one wouldn't let me take a side view... TTFN, Ginks http://www.flickr...ug-hunter/ |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 15-04-2012 19:09
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Super Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7706 Joined: 12.07.04 |
Well, I can see a lot but it is very anonymous - the features that I can see are very common in a lot of species. Also, I can't see the apical scutellar bristles, which would be useful
Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| oxycera |
Posted on 15-04-2012 20:16
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Member Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire Posts: 251 Joined: 31.12.09 |
It reminds me of Cyzenis albicans, but that shouldn't be taken as a definitive identification, of course. |
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| neprisikiski |
Posted on 15-04-2012 21:05
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Member Location: Lithuania Posts: 876 Joined: 23.02.09 |
It reminds me of Phryxe nemea, but without a certainty.
Erikas |
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| oxycera |
Posted on 15-04-2012 22:20
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Member Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire Posts: 251 Joined: 31.12.09 |
I think Erikas suggestion is more likely. |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 16-04-2012 07:32
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Super Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7706 Joined: 12.07.04 |
Yes, the only think that I could link it to would have been Phryxe ... but that didn't really feel confident enough for me. I wondered if it might be a little teneral perhaps and that could have lightened the colours a little ... anyway, it's not an easy one
Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| Ginks |
Posted on 16-04-2012 09:24
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Member Location: Mid-Essex Posts: 69 Joined: 05.01.12 |
Thank you all for looking at my fly and puzzling over it. I'm not experienced enough to get the "right" shot, and just take the best I can in the circumstances. I have one more pic of this fly, but I don't think it really shows the bristles you're after, Chris (just guessing on this), but I'll post it anyway. It may help. Life would be a tad boring if everything were easy, wouldn't it? 
TTFN, Ginks http://www.flickr...ug-hunter/ |
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| Ginks |
Posted on 16-04-2012 09:27
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Member Location: Mid-Essex Posts: 69 Joined: 05.01.12 |
Here's another shot of the fly, but I don't think it'll help much. Worth a try, though, especially as I was able to recognise it as a Tachinid...
Ginks attached the following image:  [147.45Kb] TTFN, Ginks http://www.flickr...ug-hunter/ |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 16-04-2012 10:41
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Super Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7706 Joined: 12.07.04 |
I think that I can see raised, crossed apical scutellars ... so I suppose the best way to phrase it is that there's nothing to say that it *isn't* Phryxe nemea ... but that isn't saying without any doubt that it is
Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| Ginks |
Posted on 16-04-2012 11:17
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Member Location: Mid-Essex Posts: 69 Joined: 05.01.12 |
Thanks Chris! There are really useful words in the English language, like "probably" or "possibly." I use them quite a lot... I'm going to lighten the pic, should have thought of that before, to see if I can see what you can see... but... Cheers! Edited by Ginks on 16-04-2012 11:17 TTFN, Ginks http://www.flickr...ug-hunter/ |
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| Ginks |
Posted on 16-04-2012 11:24
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Member Location: Mid-Essex Posts: 69 Joined: 05.01.12 |
Chris, I THINK I can see what you're getting at... Here's a lighter version. I've only just learnt how to manipulate exposure and things... so I keep forgetting that I can. Mind you, I still need to know what other people need to be able to see in order to get it right!  Drat, there's obviously more info in this version, it didn't upload. I'll crop again and try again... Ginks attached the following image:  [136.13Kb] Edited by Ginks on 16-04-2012 11:28 TTFN, Ginks http://www.flickr...ug-hunter/ |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 16-04-2012 11:24
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Super Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7706 Joined: 12.07.04 |
Yes, I use "probably" and "possibly" a lot too and phrases like "it looks like" ... but I've found that many non-entomologists assume that they are as good as "it is" It's all down to how certain you have to be to accept it as fact and for recording schemes, like ours, we need close to specimen-level certainty (even with specimens some IDs are not really as certain as others), which a lot of photos just never quite reach ... but for the photographer often a fairly vague "might be" is enough to give it a label BTW, if you look at the last photo and particularly at the tip of the thorax you should see 2 crossed bristles silhouetted against the grey of the abdomen. Those are the raised & crossed apical scutellars. Edited by ChrisR on 16-04-2012 11:26 Manager of the UK Species Inventory in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum, London. |
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| Ginks |
Posted on 16-04-2012 11:33
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Member Location: Mid-Essex Posts: 69 Joined: 05.01.12 |
We have two crossed bristles! Yippeeeeeeeeeeee! Our comments crossed in the uploading! Agree with your comments. I've become awfully careful about IDs lately 'cos I don't like know-it-alls jumping on me from a great height... my dodgy adrenal gland can't cope! Thanks for all your help. It's been great talking to you. 
TTFN, Ginks http://www.flickr...ug-hunter/ |
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