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Hello,

I saw this fly (3-4 mm) two weeks ago in a moor (Teverener Heide) near Brunssum.

Ben

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Tachinidae, let us wait for Theo or Chris!

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It certainly looks like a tachinid but I am left thinking "... but where are the bristles?!" ;) Perhaps it is a sarcophagid but I haven't seen a tachinid like that before :(

I'd have a go at running it through the key but I don't think enough is visible - I can't see the face or the wings clearly enough.

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Here are a wing and the head a bit larger.

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Hi Ben - thanks for those

It does make it a bit clearer but its still a bit tricky. My keying starts to get vague at the point where it asks about the excavation on T1+2 extending/not extending to the posterior margin of that tergite. I think it doesn't and, having less abdominal bristles, it seems to go the way of genera like Eloceria or Neaera - but I wouldn't like to confirm either of those because there isn't enough information in the photo to be sure - eg. one couplet talks about the presence/absence of palps.

If you had a specimen it would be a lot easier! ;) But with photos if the resolution and the angle of the photo isn't absolutely perfect it makes keying impossible and then we're left with just recognising the species from its "look" on the photo. I just haven't come across a tachinid like this one in England but it does have several interesting features (lack of bristles on the tergites etc) that might prompt Theo when he can see it.

I will take down a list of unresolved tachinid threads and email them to Theo when he gets back from his holiday :)

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Still here

There is a row of proclinate orbital setae which is quite unusual in Tachinidae (hardly any Tachinid has more than 2, though it occurs).
As pointed out by Chris, it looks a little bit suspect as Tachinid in general.
Are we sure it is a Tachinid.
It might be in Miltogramminae. Amobia comes in mind, given the orbital setae


Theo

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Seems I got this one wrong. The jizz was certainly more Tachinid-like than Sarcophagid-like.

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Hi Xespok

I'm not saying you are dead wrong,
I just don't know whether this is a Tachinid or a Sarcophagid.
On second look, I might have been deceived by the picture concerning the orbital setae. There might just be 2 pair.

So, for me the picture is inconclusive.
Sorry

Theo

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So the unknown family stays unknown. My own fault, taking just one picture of what seemed to be nothing special.
Thanks for spending your time on it.

Ben

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This is Oebalia (Sarcophagidae, Miltogramminae), which explains the missing bristles - as observed by Chris.

Liekele

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Thanks Liekele,

Never saw something like it again.

Ben