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July 22, 2007, Ozhigovo station, Naro-Fominsk district, Moscow region, laying eggs on the same fallen aspen with lots of Strongylophthalmyia. Size around 3 mm (several specimens collected but not measured or treated otherwise yet).

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You are quite right. Adults aren't often seen, but larvae seem to be present in almost every suitable aspen.

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please, put a family in the name of species, because neither all readers knows which family are you talking about! :)

Spectacular fly! So, if the larvae are "present in almost every suitable aspen." why not rearing them? :)

And where can we find photos of larvas for these flies? :D

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Many thanks Jere and Jorge. I think I should re-visit that tree trunk. There were also a lot of Medetera, ovipositing Lonchaeidae, small wasps, newly-emerged scolytid beetles, and Stegana cf. blaechlii.

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I have found many of these startiomyids on dead trunks of Populus, together with Solva marginata (Xylomyidae) and Lonchaeidae. At the time, some trunks even got a whitish sheen because of the large number of eggs laid on them.

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Thanks a lot for your comment Paul. Did anyone try to rear them?

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Hi all
Neopachygaster is a common species on aspen and Poplar across most of Europe from the Med. north to Moscow obviously. The larvae can be frequent in sap runs (or sap fluxes as they say in the USA) on living trees as well as in the sweet smelling decaying wood of fallen trees or branches. Aspen / poplars are one of the best trees for saproxylic Diptera larvae so its always worth investegating if you see one (the bigger the tree the better) , either for adults on the bark or larvae under the bark. - any strange lonchaeids gratefully recieved ... Iain

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I think I reared all of them, but cannot recall off-hand what lonchaeid it was, other than Lonchaea.