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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Two flies (1 Viewer)

antshrike69

antshrike69

Well-known member
United Kingdom
These two were in the moth trap last night - both rather attractively-marked. Any help with ID would be welcome :)
 

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I think the one on the left is probably a Tephritidae - I'll have to dig out my key to give a full ID (The wing pattern should help).

The one on the right - Pallopteridae or possibly Opomyzidae
 
Left one Phagocarpus permundus

Would agree the other looks good for Opomyzidae Can't find a more specific match with the books I've got though

Jan
 
Last edited:
Jan-Paul Charteris said:
Cool :) they change names faster than I can keep up ;)
Click to expand...

to be pedantic, this is not a name change but a change of combination as permunda is transferred to a different genus. In GB it has been in Anomoia for a long time now but the other problem is not all countries change at the same time or in the same direction. Fauna Europea is best resource but much is now out of date.
 
Thanks everyone - this is why this forum is so useful. So much knowledge about groups I've barely scratched the surface of!
I'm guessing that there is no 'popular' literature to dipterids in a more general way? I find identifying flies difficult with the exception of hoverflies thanks to the superb key available for them. It would be nice to be able to nail green bottles and the like to species.
Many groups are no doubt well beyond the realm of easy keys, but what else is there for dipterids which might help me identify more individuals than I am managing currently?
 
Ficedula, Now I've got to my books I concur - should have looked closer at the second picture, at a glance it looked good for Opomyzidae.

Antshrike, Pjotr Oosterboek has published a fantastic key to European families of the Diptera which is a good first step though it's currently retailing at £80! (It was £50 when I got mine a couple of years ago). Otherwise the Dipterist's Forum linked to by Ficedula is a good resource.

For blowflies the Naturalist's Handbook is good, though the females of some Genera are left untouched due to difficulty.
 
Thanks Imaginos - the family key is already ordered! Hopefully, it might be a good starting point for me to get a handle on these dipterids..
 
I hope you find it as useful as I do. I meant to also recommend the Dipterist's Handbook published by the Royal Entomological Society (I've not seen the new edition but the first edition I have is very good). The RES also have keys to some of the UK families of Diptera but not all, of course all of these cost money, it can be quite expensive to assemble a full library of references! Fortunately an increasing number of keys are becoming available in pdf format which cuts down the costs.
 
antshrike69 said:
Thanks everyone - this is why this forum is so useful. So much knowledge about groups I've barely scratched the surface of!
I'm guessing that there is no 'popular' literature to dipterids in a more general way? I find identifying flies difficult with the exception of hoverflies thanks to the superb key available for them. It would be nice to be able to nail green bottles and the like to species.
Many groups are no doubt well beyond the realm of easy keys, but what else is there for dipterids which might help me identify more individuals than I am managing currently?
Click to expand...

Actually Hoverflies are not a particularly easy group, indeed some genera are amongst the most difficult of all Diptera, they are just well researched so there is lots of literature. The best group to start with are the Larger Brachycera covered by Stubbs & Drake 2001 British Soldierflies and their allies: A Field Guide to the Larger British Brachycera. London: British Entomological and Natural History Society. pp. 528 pages. ISBN 1-899935-04-5.

The main thing you need to do if you want reliable identifications of Diptera is collect specimens and get a microscope (given your large moth list i suspect you already have one). I would also reccomend the Dipterists Handbook, The key to European families is also excellent, and i use it in preference to all other keys when I need a key to the families, but it is quite technical, but so long as you have specimen then it is sufficiently well illustrated to be usable for anyone.
 
Thanks for the advice. I have microscopes at work, although I could do with getting a good binocular microscope which would make life easier. Like all things, it is a question of having access to good information and then getting gradual experience with the group(s). I know that has been my personal experience with macro then micro moths and then more recently keying out hoverflies and spiders amongst others.

My one sticking point with Stubbs is when characters are more subjective - details of venation etc are much easier to make a decision on. Of course, the dreaded squama is a major sticking point also at least for me.
 
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