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Hi,
Today I saw this nice couple on a Centaurea bud. The abdomina look short, but they are folded, so it might well be Cylindromyia. Can a species name be given?
Thanks, Sundew

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Well, I just found Gordon's thread (http://www.dipter...d_id=22863) about a similar couple, also yet unnamed. Interestingly, in his pair the smaller one (probably male) is up and the bigger (female) is down. My flies play it vice versa - is this a matter of feminism or just for fun? Where are the Tachinid copulation methods' experts?

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Old saying; A change is as good as a rest. ;)

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Not sure what you mean by vice versa, but also in your case the upper one is male.

It seems to be C. auriceps.


Theo

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I see - size doesn't matter in Tachinids, I remember. (It depends from the size and fatness of the larval host, doesn't it?) So my sweet little female has to carry a big boy, and the size dimensions of Gordon's couple are reversed... Thank you, Theo!
Sundew
BTW, is there really no species ID of Gordon's Cylindromyias possible?

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NO, but it is not auriceps

(first impression is intermedia, really a guess !)


Theo

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I think that it's not that Cylindromyia sp. are particularly difficult to identify per-se ... just they are hard to identify from photos due to the difficulty in seeing the important features ... specimens aren't too tricky :)