Thread subject: Diptera.info :: >Cecidomyiidae
Posted by nick upton on 23-05-2011 19:13
#1
Can anyone confirm that this is a bibionid, (much smaller than others i've seen), and is it possible to ID at least to genus?
13.3.11 c3-4mm Wiltshire garden, UK
Edited by nick upton on 23-05-2011 22:09
Posted by ChrisR on 23-05-2011 19:16
#2
Not a bibionid ... possibly a scatopsid or just another gnat :)
Posted by blowave on 23-05-2011 19:19
#3
Looks like a Sciarid, Bradysia sp. to me.
Janet
Posted by nick upton on 23-05-2011 19:32
#4
Thanks Chris and Janet, Sciaridae, Bradysia sp. looks good to me now i'm looking in the right place.. Odd triangular shaped abdomen, but realise I'm into tiny fly territory without a very detailed photo to help me and read that this is a little studied family. Not surprising maybe as they're so small!
Posted by Paul Beuk on 23-05-2011 19:34
#5
Cecidomyiidae
Posted by nick upton on 23-05-2011 22:09
#6
Many thanks Paul... I know their galls, and now I know what the midge/gnat looks like.
Posted by John Carr on 24-05-2011 00:22
#7
Lestremiinae because tarsi have five long segments, and it doesn't look like Catotrichinae if you consider that a separate subfamily. If I saw it in North America I would say Micromyini (CuA forked, M faint, R5 long).
Posted by blowave on 24-05-2011 14:03
#8
Mycromyini looks good John, it's remarkable how similar these are and it's a reminder to check wing venation more closely.
http://www.drawwi...myini-wing
Posted by nick upton on 24-05-2011 14:58
#9
Many thanks John for narrowing the ID down. There are certainly many Micromyini in Europe eg Aprionus spp, Monardia spp.. and the mushroom fly Mycophila speyeri. To get to family Cecidomyiidae, subfamily Lestremiinae, Tribe Micromyinae is doing well for a photo of such a tiny fly. The image was taken on my first outing with some new extension tubes on my macro lens so i don't have to ignore the little ones any more.. but it gets me into ever tougher ID territory!
Posted by John Carr on 26-05-2011 03:21
#10
All the gall makers of the family are in subfamily Cecidomyiinae so this is not a source of your galls. I think Sciaroidea evolved from a fungus gnat ancestor (not sure of that) and the less derived lineages of Cecidomyiidae mostly retained that ecological role.
Posted by nick upton on 26-05-2011 18:38
#11
OK thanks again. So it's more likely a fungus gnat than a gall midge. An interesting group: Many years ago I was tangentially involved in some filming of parthenogenetic larval reproduction in a gnat that probably belonged to this group . And the following link suggests you're right re the evolutionary origins of Sciaroidea. http://www.online-keys.net/sciaroidea/2000_/Blagoderov_Grimaldi_2004_Fossil_sciaroidea_gen_n.pdf