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Image taken in Leticia, Colombia near Amazonas river

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here is a view of the head...

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Welcome to the forum! :)

It looks like a very interesting insect but if you have even more photos it will help :)

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wow! Nematocera maybe.
This must be one of the most aberrant flies I've ever seen here in DI!

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Most likely a Ceratopogonidae.

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I am pretty certain it is diptera.. as you said it has halteres. The head reminds me of culicidae. The antenna also reminds me of Culicidae. It appears to have piercing mouth parts. Here is another view.

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Ceratopogonidae: Heteromyia sp.

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yes!! I found the genus in Bugguide.net. Biting midge! Thanks!! that was quick!

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Very interesting fly - well found! :) Do you have more Colombian Diptera photos?

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yes... I have many many many .... waiting ID! Many I have ID to family, but when it comes to genera, most need ID. I will start posting those here as I get time.

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Next question: Do you also collect the flies? I could well do with some Colombian Empidoidea... ;)

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BTW: This species is now on the Ten Most Wanted List of the Diptera gallery on Diptera.info. :D

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Wow, amazing! :D:D

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Key to neotropical species in:

Duret, J.P., and J. Lane. 1955. Novas Heteromyia da Argentina (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae). Dusenia 6:35-40.

I have not seen this paper.

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I do not collect the flies or other insects. Colombia is pretty stringent on collection and transfer of material through customs. I am sure it could be done, but I have not pursued it.
I would love to post the Biting Midge images on this site's gallery...I just have to figure out how, since I am very new to this site.

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At the left column you have the option Gallery links visible. Click on the plus button. Then it will pop up several options, afterwards you can submit your photo.

Note: only photos below 146,8 kB (beware that the limit is 195 kB/photo for the forum threads); and without any spaces and special characters are not allowed in the filename. Choose the family in the album field, and put whatever you think it is pertinent in the description like the name of the place where you saw the fly, or even a link to the thread where the fly was IDed.

Hope to see new photos of your flies. Important: one species per thread. Avoid to put several different species in one thread.

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It is a sad fact that a lot of countries make it difficult for scientists to study their fauna ... but when faced with large corporations that want to pollute or destroy the forest they seem less stringent ;) Just from my experience of museums I feel that Colombia is under-surveyed as a country - especially in recent years - possibly because of the old problems with FARC etc. If you could collect and distribute material to experts around the world then you would be doing your country's fauna a great service because I feel there must be many hundred of thousands of undescribed species waiting to be examined there :) Not least in my own group, the Tachinidae, which is the second most biodiverse group in the neotropics.

In the meantime it would be very interesting to see photos of your tachinids (and other families) - even if, in most cases, they won't be identifiable. Occasionally you might be lucky and someone will be able to tell you what something looks like - maybe to genus or tribe - but without being able to check genitalia and other subtle features under a microscope we would never know if you have seen a new species or not ;)


Just follow Jorge's advice but if you have any problems just get in touch with myself or Paul. All photos need to be approved and moved to the correct gallery by an administrator - so don't worry if your doesn't appear immediately :)