Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Tachinidae - Catharosia pygmaea from Serra do Caramulo (1)
Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 29-06-2011 21:50
#1
Finally I managed to find this genus for the first time. Near a field of Umbelliferae and ferns.
June 2011, about 5 mm size. In Caramulinho - Serra do Caramulo.
Tachinidae - Catharosia pygmaea.
It could be a C. albisquama but it is not because this species is a very small ones and it has the lower calypter not darkened and the petiole of wing cell R5 is much longer than in the C. pygmaea.
Edited by jorgemotalmeida on 30-06-2011 01:07
Posted by ChrisR on 29-06-2011 22:44
#2
Nice find! :D I am still waiting to find my first here but other people who do more sweeping tend to find them ... they just don't look like tachinids so I probably overlook them.
Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 30-06-2011 02:18
#3
I swept near the basis of ferns and grass. Also in the same place I saw Eloceria delecta on trunk.
This article maybe will shed light in the coloured pattern we can see in the above photo.
Stable structural color patterns displayed
on transparent insect wings
Ekaterina Shevtsova, Christer Hansson, Daniel H. Janzen, and Jostein Kjærandsen
http://www.pnas.o...8.full.pdf
" (..) wing interference patterns (WIPs)
—in the transparent wings of small Hymenoptera and Diptera, patterns that have been largely overlooked by biologists. These extremely thin wings reflect vivid color patterns caused by thin film interference(..)"
Posted by ChrisR on 30-06-2011 09:51
#4
Yes, I saw that article a while ago - it is quite an interesting take on interference patterns and their possible role. Insects clearly see in a different way to us and have different priorities so it would be fascinating to do a full study of these patterns to see if they could help us define species boundaries more easily :)