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Location: Algarve, Portugal

Date Photo Taken: August 2008

Size: 1,2 cm x 0,4 cm

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Atylotus sp.

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Can't tell more from this pic.

Did you collect it ?


Theo

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dear Zeegers, he doesn't collect anything.

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No... But I have more Photos!

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please post.
lateral and frontal would be great


Theo

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Photos are not Good...

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the last pic is good, you can see the 2 black vittae on tergites I was looling for.

So my suggestion is male A. quadrifarius

(latistriatus has similar pattern, but not this oversized head).


Theo

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Atylotus flavoguttatus ???

Wolfgang Schacht said that the specimen is not
latistriatus nor quadrifarius... but Atylotus flavoguttatus:

"Though I have only one male of Atylotus flavoguttatus (Szilady, 1915) of bad quality, in comarison with all other iberian Atylotus species, your specimen fits
to it (also compared with females) in all aspects: The only species with
black tip of antennae (comp. w. females); eyes largest with the broadest
hind margin of small facettes and the smallest and very slender ocellar
tubercle; pattern of white toment on thorax most conspicuous; humeral
callus at least halfway blackish; legs largely black with entirely black
femora, except knees; ground colour of abdomen black with the first 3
tergites with brown sides; lateral lines of light spots on abdomen from
tergit 1 - 6 (or 7) composed of white toment, the first 3 underlayed by
the brown sides, the rear ones underlayed by the black ground colour
(in females these spots are very distinct); the central stipe of white
hairs among the black ones may vary, it is present in my male on tergit
1-2, because the rest is rubbed and it is varyable present in the
females, this depends upon the dominance of black or white hairs in this
area. Even the black spots on hind margin of eyes are present in my dry
male. All other related iberian Atylotus have much more yellow abdomen
and legs, and no one of their males has as large eyes, though
latistiatus is near to it, and no one has abdominal side spots composed
of white toment, but only by white hairs."

--> What's your opinion?

Thanks.

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Well, it could be, I was not definitive in my ID, but I'm not convinced.
A. flavoguutatus has long hairs on the occiput: I don't see them. I know the picture is out of focus, so I'm not sure they are not there, but I need to see them before IDing flavoguttatus. I don't see a black tip to the antenna, so I don't understand. The colouration of legs is hopelessly variable in Atylotus (have a look at large series latistriatus).
Finally, quadrifarius has a large head, cf. Chvala et al. (Wolfgang has beautiful males from Cota Donana in his collection ). Chvala et al. give for flavoguttatus 'Abdomen with a distinct, blackish meadian stripe occuping one-third of the tergite' This does not agree with these pictures.


So.... ??


Theo

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The third antennal segment is supposed to be very elongated in male flavoguttatus (cf. fig 72E in Portillo) whereas in quadrifarius it is much broader. The last picture seems to show a broad third antennal segment.


Theo

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One more photo...

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Wolfgang Schacht said that:

"Your foto of a male Tabanidae is not quadrifarius, because this species
has in male much smaller eyes and a nearly entirely yellow abdomen. I
was collecting a large series of males hoovering between the branches of
a Pinus tree at La Algaida near Sanlucar d.B. north of Cadiz, up to
which my friend has helped me to climb it. In one of your last fotos I
can see, that the lateral patches on abdomen are not composed of whitish
toment. In western Spain, Sierra de Gata, I collected a Tabanus species
which is still undeternmined in my collection and similar ones of which
I collected in both sexes in Morocco and Turkey. I try to remoisten one
of them to see the colour of the eye, and may bee I send a few to
Zeegers for determination. Up to now, the determination of your male is
not at the end."

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I say amen to the last conclusion by Wolfgang.

Atylotus is a difficult genus, in my opinion in need of revision.
Valter, thanks for the additional pic, but we still can't see whether or not there are longer hairs on the occiput.


Theo