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Hello. This is my first post here, so if there is something wrong in my post, please tell me so I can fix the problem.

I first put the three photos in this post to a Finnish insect forum. The link to that post and the answers is here: http://hyonteiset...mp;t=22686
Because I started practicing and photographing insects, including Diptera, the spring of this year, I didn't have the tiniest clue of what I had photographed. The fly flew on my friend's hand and stayed there long enough for me to take photographs from different angles. I had no idea it might be of importance, so I let it go instead of taking it with me in order to identify it later. This happened in south-western Finland (the area of Ab, near Turku) in the city of Kaarina, April 15th in this year, 2011.

I got an answer soon enough. It was suspected that it might be Gonia picea, which is, as I have understood, a very common species in our country. So I shrugged it off my mind and didn't check on the thread until today. Now I found that there were two more messages, both of which said that it was most probably Bothria frontosa. That identification was verified by others. At that time I was asked to send the photographs here, but I never read those answers until now.

Bothria frontosa is, as said in the thread, a southern species (at least looking from Finland). Moreover, while it has been found in Sweden, the species would be a new one for Finland. The question now lies whether this species can be accepted as a new species for Finland based on these photos only. If the identification is undoubtedly right, I will have to contact some Finnish Diptera-professionals and see if a mere photograph is enough.

Best regards,
Kim Kuntze

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Here is another photograph.

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And here yet another.

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Welcome to the forum Kim ... it's certainly not a Gonia but I'll leave it to Erikas or Jaakko to say whether this might be Bothria ... it certainly looks good to me though :)

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It looks like Bothria frontosa indeed, must be a female.

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Thanks to both of you! Erikas, do you think these photographs are enough for this species to be accepted as a new species for Finland?

Kim

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If the species has not been registered from your area before, I would prefer to have a specimen to be confident. But you may contact Peter Tschorsnig, the leader tachinologist, his answer should be the most reliable.

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Do you know Tschorsnig's e-mail adress? I couldn't find it when I searched his name in the web. Or if he is on Diptera-info, I could send him a private message.

Kim

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A little Googling gave this:

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Tschorsnig's reply was that there was nothing in the photos that would contradict with the earlier identification. Thus it is clear that this really is Bothria frontosa. Lucky of me to find a new species after just two months of practising Diptera.

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Well done - keep up the good work - but collect plenty to get more serious records because you really just were lucky in this case that it could be relatively easily identified ;)

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Yes, I know I should collect more - but I don't really have the time and space needed for hundreds of collected flies at the moment, so for the time being I have to continue with photographs and only collecting the most interesting ones, I'm afraid.