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Hello,

24th October on my wall, near Lincoln UK.

2 pics

Janet :)

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pic 2

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That posterodorsal bristle on the hind tibia suggests Phaonia.

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Thanks Stephen, that's a pointer I will try to remember!

Off to look again at Phaonia..

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We have a very long list of Phaonia! The creamy tip to the scutellum might give a clue but I don't have keys..

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Can anyone say what this is? :|

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Phaonia angelicae might be considered to be a reasonable
suggestion.

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Thanks John, that does sound reasonable. Can we say, in Stephane's words, it has



I'm not sure if those two bristles on t2 are pv but yes they do look to be coming from that direction!

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Yes, I did look for that basal pd bristle on t3 and I thought I could see it (just) but it is open to doubt from the photo, I suppose.

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Could this be Phaonia errans? I'm not sure about the two neat rows of pre-sutural ac's though which this fly has.

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Errans seems very likely but I only have 1 female; it doesn't have the line of ac's by the pre-sut vittae and the front femora has long bristles in various planes. Still, I think you're probably right.

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Check out the photos of the female specimen on this site, it's a good match.. I think it has those small pre-sut ac's, maybe the dark pattern is concealing them.

http://213.139.16...errans.htm

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Mmm, certainly show the long femoral bristles; I don't think the a-c pre-sut setae on your photo are significant (although I'm not altogether certain we're lookinbg at the same thing).

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I'm putting the Paul hat on, ac :D

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Those ac's are still fine, even though somewhat aligned, so I wouldn't disqualify errans on that count, though there is no such arrangement on my specimen - there may be a danger of 'splitting hairs' with this :)

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I agree with the danger of splitting hairs, :D but there's a few minor niggles with me even though the T2&3 bristles look to match, thorax and abdomen pattern look 'spot' on. There's a lot of Phaonia species but photos of only a few species.

I found a thread of Roger's with P. errans, it has the slightly fuscated cross veins which mine don't appear to have, and the wings on mine are tinted but I'm not sure that makes a difference. His fly also doesn't have the neat rows of pre-sut ac's.

http://www.dipter...pid=110580

One other difference hitting me in the eye is the two ac's above the scutellum, on my fly they splay out at an angle. Not having the experience, nor keys, I am not in a position to say anything for sure!

I would like to know what Stephane thinks, how about it Stephane? Here's a list of our Phaonia..

http://www.dipter...p?id=18206

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I find I have 2 specimens - both have 2 pairs of ac's above the scutellum, neither are splayed out. Then your specimen has those pre-sut ac's in alignment by the vittae and there appear to be no long bristles to speak of on the front femora. Time to bow out gracefully I'm afraid.:S

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I don't really know with these pictures which could be misleading. I have doubts on P. errans because I can see only 1 pair of prescutellar setae, because the frontal triangle is not typical for P. errans, and because I can't see the black spot on parafacial at antennae level (I know these latter are dependant of the angle of view, ambient light etc.).

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Thank you Stephane, there is only 1 pair of prescutellar setae.

The test now is if anyone knows of a Phaonia which is similar to P errans!

I have lightened that area a little..