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I assume that the wing veins clinch this one. 22/4/12 Whisby Nature Park, Lincoln, UK, dry short grassland with scrub and gravel-pit lake

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It is

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Interesting - which species does it key out to? Since Belshaw we have acquired minutissima and zonella :)

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Thanks Erikas.
Chris,
is the central European key OK for these species? Could you send me the keyword please?

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Looks like minutissima to me.

Jaakko

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I have the impression of nigrina/vaccinii, since I cannot see the m-cu vein in this specimen.

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Thank you everyone; I have sent the specimen to Chris now for examination.
Regards
Phil Porter

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Thanks Phil - I will post back here when I have had a chance to look at it properly. Phytomyptera is a genus that has gone through a bit of an expansion here in recent years but the new species are still very rare so it is always good to check everything carefully :)

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I agree with EriKas


Theo

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Thanks Theo,

Chris, if it turns out to be a specimen you would like to keep, feel free, but maybe in that case you would be able to use your photographic techniques to illustrate the critical features for me.
Regards
Phil

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Thanks Phil - I would very much like to hang on to it, if that's OK and I will definitely be taking some photos of it - it has some very interesting features. :) It keys very nicely to P.nigrina in the British keys but I will investigate Erikas's other possibility (vaccinii), just in case it might be a new one.

As Erikas said, they do not have an m-cu vein and the median vein also does not bend - it vanishes - both of which are very rare features on tachinids. :)

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Hmm, I have just tried it in the Central European key and it is a really difficult task to split nigrina & vaccinii ... this specimen has very uneven ad bristles on the hind tibia and has a few rows of discals on tergite 5 (all possibly good for vaccinii) ... but the 5th tergite doesn't seem much longer than tergite 5 (indicator for nigrina) and we have a female so it isn't possible to check the genitalia.

Does anyone know a good/easy way to split them? :)

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You need Anderson 1988"Revision ... Phytomyptera ..." but also see here

http://www.nadsdi...s/TT19.pdf

this Tachinid Times article has a photo of P. nigrina female post-abdomen.

Steve

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Thanks Steve - yes, I have Andersen (1988), which has all the male & female genitalia figured but I am none the wiser at the moment because the specimen is tiny (4mm) and the abdomen has collapse ventrally, distorting the tip. It'll need relaxing very carefully and teasing out ... which I am a bit reluctant to do if we can get the det any other way.

I will take some detailed photos when I can and post them for the experts to judge :D

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Phil needs to collect some more:)

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Definitely - a nice series would help :D Phytomyptera are seldom encountered in the field (probably just under collected) but the recent discovery of zonella and minutissima does make me think that we should re-examine old material to make sure that we haven't missed others.

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Well, I have relaxed it and that enabled me to re-mount it and manipulate the abdomen so that I could see the sternites and it is very definitely Phytomyptera nigrina :)

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Thanks for all your trouble Chris. Data - 22/4/12 Whisby Nature Park, Lincoln SK 92430 66919 caught by Richard Davidson
Regards
Phil

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Thanks Phil - nice record - keep it up! :)