Diptera.info

Posted by Paul Beuk on 09-11-2007 11:19

First though was Lauxaniidae, but 2 mm is small and the behaviou appears to be atypical. I was wondering about Camillidae...
Did you collect some that you can send?

Posted by Jan Willem on 09-11-2007 20:09

This certainly doesn't belong to the family Lauxaniidae, since there seems to be at least one costal break. It does look like a Camillidae, but are there Camillidae with such an elongate third antennal segment?

Posted by Nikita Vikhrev on 09-11-2007 21:03

I think it may be Ephydridae, I've seen something alike in Thailand.
Is it yours, Tony?

Edited by Nikita Vikhrev on 09-11-2007 21:09

Posted by Tony Irwin on 09-11-2007 21:30

Mmmm.. I looked at Loepa's pictures and decided to keep quiet for while. The similarity to your specimen (which I agree is Ephydridae) is due to convergent evolution - apart from being small, black and shiny, the elongate antennae are the only thing they share. Head shape, body shape and (especially) posture are all different. The posture of Loepa's flies bothers me most - no self-respecting ephydrid would ever wander around in that ridiculous way. :p
Camillidae seems like a good bet to me. Someone with access to a good world acalypterate collection should be able to spot this one. Are you awake, yet Steve?

Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 10-11-2007 21:54

#15

Sometimes I asked myself: are we normal? :D And then, I see many flies pass over my head and follow them trying catch! :)

Posted by Chen Young on 12-11-2007 17:48

#22

I would agree with Nikita Vikhrev that it is a ephydrid. Not based on the shape of the antennae but based on the pecinate only on the dorsal surface (At least this is what I saw on the images).

Edited by Chen Young on 12-11-2007 17:49

Posted by Paul Beuk on 12-11-2007 20:23

#23

You might be right. I just found an illustration of Rhynchopsilopa nitidissima in the Contributions to a manual of Palaearctic Diptera. that one also has elongate mouthparts. that Manual mentions only that species from the Middle East. i'll keep digging.

Posted by Steve Gaimari on 13-11-2007 05:20

#25

I had asked Wayne Mathis about this fly, and he agreed that it is an ephydrid, also pointing out it's similarity to Rhychopsilopa! I think that is a mainly African genus, but that doesn't mean there isn't something similar in China - maybe not the same genus, but similar.

Posted by loepa on 13-11-2007 06:11

#26

in Literature, two Rhychopsilopa recorded in China:

Rhychopsilopa longicornis Haliday,1966 Fujian
Rhychopsilopa magnicornis Hendel,1913 Taiwan

:o

Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 13-11-2007 09:31

#27

as we can see... the behavio(u)r can be diverse and, sometimes, unexpected. :) So this must be a "no self-respecting ephydrid" :d AS our Tony Irwin told! :)
"Bad girl" this fly. :)

Which are the other possibilities besides Rhychopsilopa genus?

Edited by jorgemotalmeida on 13-11-2007 09:32

Posted by Paul Beuk on 04-12-2007 14:17

#30

I just received 3 Eppendorf tubes with specimens from three localities and they appear to be Rhynchopsilopa. On one locality there are at least two species present, one with completely yellow legs and one with partly darkened legs. These differences are accompanied by differences in the male genitalia. There even might be a third species from another locality (also with partly darkened legs). The genitalia in these specimens are not so extended as in the other dark-legged specimens and I cannot be certain if that is significant or not. I'll be in touch. ;)

Posted by Paul Beuk on 04-12-2007 15:03

#31

BTW: Rhynchopsilopa longicornis Haliday, 1966 should be Lissodrosophila longicornis Okada, 1966. I will try to find the differences between the two genera.
Further, there are 20 described species of Rhynchopsilopa, most of which are recorded from Africa. One sp[ecies is know from the Middle East, one from Sri Lanka, and another (magnicornis) is know from Indo-China, the Malaysian Archipelago and Taiwan. The 'twentieth' species is one of uncertain status from Indonesia.

Posted by John Carr on 17-08-2022 19:39

#32

Since this thread was posted 15 years ago, a revision of Chinese Rhynchopsilopa was published in Zookeys: https://doi.org/1...s.216.3224.

Zhang et al. 2012. A review of the species of Rhynchopsilopa Hendel from China (Diptera, Ephydridae).