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Hello,

I saw this fly several times on mint today. Is it possible to identify the species? By clicking on the pictures -> enlargement

Greetings, Volker

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Hi Volker, this is surely a female of the Tachinidae - my first ideas failed, but I'm still searching and if you change the title of your thread, help will come soon :)

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My first suspicion will be my last: Linnaemyia cf. tesselans. But I'm not sure as the mouth is not as protruding as it should be. Maybe it's because the proboscis is working...

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Female Estheria cf, cristata ( try to figure out the DC !)


Theo

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Hello Eric and Theo,

first of all, thank you for your opinions. I would then shortlist Estheria cf, cristata, it has the greater resemblance to my specimen. What is meant by DC -> dorso-central bristles? Do you mean what I have marked in the picture?

Greetings, Volker

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Yes, it is an distinctive feature vs. E. bohemani.

Theo

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Hello Theo,

then may I refer to my specimen as Estheria cristata?

Greetings, Volker

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I don’t know, I can’t establish the number of post DC. Maybe you can, on the hi-res.

Theo

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Hello Theo,

I counted 4 bristles in the middle and 2 on each side. I hope you mean these bristles?

Greetings, Volker

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Volker, you have been a forum member since 2008 - you should already know better! Why don't you use the glossary https://diptera.i...mp;cat_id= and look for "dorsocentral setae" and "postsutural"? This one is also great: http://www.tachin...nition.htm. Your last picture shows that you really have to deal with the terms - that's your task ;), the experts do not have time to teach you.
Then, you got already 2 alternatives: E. cristata and E. bohemani. The first thing I do in such cases is to go into the forum search and look for all older threads that contain information about these species and compare the pictures. Especially in the old threads there is much more informative discussion of the characters. You can learn an enormous lot - get active!
And, by the way, I see 3 postsutural dorsocentrals, so I'd go for E. cristata, too :D.
Best wishes, Sundew

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And one more remark (as I advised to learn from older threads): Even experts can make mistakes. In https://diptera.i...d_id=96278 my fly was said to be E. cristata because of 4 ps dc, but cristata has 3. I add the key from https://tachinida...igures.pdf.
(Now it's my problem with my fly species - the characters "scutellum yellow" and "4 ps dc" do not match... You are luckier, your's should have a yellow scutellum, and it has!)

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Hello Sundew,

yes, I've been a member of this forum for many years, but I didn't use to be a frequent visitor. I must admit, I still have a lot to learn about the distribution of hair on the body and I often have problems with abbreviations of terms and words. I am also still learning English, thus it's not always that easy for me. Your references to the two sites are very helpful and I will look at them carefully. In any case, thanks for the determination and your tips.

Greetings, Volker