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Dear dipterists,
this nice pair was found in
Germany, southern Schleswig-Holstein/northern suburbs of Hamburg, in a small wooden area on April 29, 2012. The animals were approx. 7 mm small.

After comparison with the gallery pictiures I wonder if this is Bibio johannis. The photos of Bibio johannis show redbrown femora and tibiae; the similarly looking Bibio pomonae seems to have only brownish femora and black tibiae.

Thanks in advance for having a look and identification if possible.

Best regards,
Sabine

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The tibiae in the male are completely black, so it cannot be johannis.
If you look closely, the veins in the wing in the male are rather pronounced. This, the wing venation and the black haired thorax suggests Bibio reticulatus
(and of course the black female, in anglicus the female is completely different).


Theo

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Beste Theo,
thank you very much indeed for your help. I only have two special books on diptera, and in most of the cases I compare with the gallery here. This time Bibio johannis seemed to be the closest match. There are no pictures of Bibio reticulatus in the diptera gallery at all.
Furthermore, I googled for Bibio reticuatus and found a thread in this forum with a picture of a female posted by Josef Buecker on May 15, 2010. Your answer at that time was that female examples of the species lanigerus, varipes, reticulatus cannot be separated. Thus, I imply that identification of this pair is possible due to the combination of male and female features. Very interesting.

Thanks a lot again, hartelijk bedankt en beste groeten naar Nederland
Best regards, Sabine

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Yes, in Bibio, sometimes males are easy to ID, and sometimes females. So always look for couples !

Theo