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Can anyone confirm that this tachinid is a Gymnosoma sp. and is it possible to say which one?

16.7.09 Lower Anso valley, Spanish Pyrenees.

Nick Upton

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And a head-on view of the same fly

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Ectophasia sp.

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Many thanks for the quick reply Rui. Yes it matches some Ectophasia photos I have now found. Could it be Ectophasia crassipennis? or E. oblonga? or are they hard to separate form photos alone?
Nick

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I must say I find crassipennis & oblonga difficult to split from photos because I haven't seen enough specimens of oblonga yet :D

As a guide to the genus, Ectophasia males have mottled wings (Gymnosoma only have slightly shaded wings sometimes) and Gymnosoma has a really smooth, round abdomen :)

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Many thanks Chris. Sounds like I'll have to settle for Ectophasia sp. but at least that's closer than my original Gymnosoma sp. guess.

I wondered if the location might help define which Ectophasia this is and I have found Pyreneean records for E crassipes and Spanish montane records (Sierra Nevada) for E. oblonga so that doesn't help much.

Someone out there may know them both well enough to help, though. From the few photos I've found, it looks more like E. crassipes (wider black band on abdomen), but don't know how variable this character is or how accurate the photo IDs were!
Nick

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I think the location won't help much because all the Ectophasia spp. exist in the south. The normal way to split crassipennis from oblonga would be the shape of the abdomen but the width of the dark band does influence things but I am always a bit nervous to use coloration as the only feature because it does vary :)

On another note, keep a look-out for Ectophasia in the UK, along the southern counties. It has never been recorded here but it has been in the Channel Isles for many years. The same also goes for Phasia aurigera :) The mantra to repeat is "Not everything that looks like Phasia hemiptera is Phasia hemiptera!" :D

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OK thanks Chris. Here is my one other shot of the Spanish Ectophasia sp. with tiny bit more of the abdominal shape visible maybe.... I'll certainly look out for Ectophasia / Phasia in the UK this summer and for Tachinids generally.

Nick

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Hmm, the abdomen doesn't really look longer than it is wide so I'd favour E.crassipennis but it's still hard to say for sure :)

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OK many thanks. I'll call it Ectophasia sp., possibly E.crassipes until I get any other, more certain takers! I've now posted most of my ?? diptera and other insect photos from last year, and have had useful feedback on pretty much everything. Now I need some sunshine and warmer weather to bring this year's crop out ...
Nick