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Hi is this would this appear to be Chymomyza costata ? it was tubed from a dustbin in the UK (midlands),

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Looks like a female of the Drosophila obscura group.

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I think Paul is right (hell, or course he is ). Chymomyza are mostly forest dwellers as their larvae develop in dead trees.

PS. I like your location

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thank you, i reckon i might need to run this back throught the key to see where i went wrong..

by the way is the Fauna Ento Scan Key to the Family any good, (im currently using Fonsecas UK key...)

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In my experience the FES volume is *very* good for identifying adult flies, but it nearly ignores many other interesting aspects of drosophilids. Distributions are described as "Most of Europe", usually nothing is said about the biology of individual species etc. This is really unfortunately, since Drosophilidae is one of the families where much additional information exists. Compare it with the sepsid or platypezid volumes with keys to larvae, detailed notes on there they can be found etc. and you'll see what I mean.

For example, here's a breakdown of what they do with[i] Drosophila melanogaster [/i, hardly a understudied species:

* Diagnosis & description or adult fly: two pages of text, plus 1.5 pages of illustrations

* Distribution, full text: "A cosmopolitan, domestric species recorded almost everywhere, rare or absent in cold area; northernmost locality: Oxnadal (Iceland)."

* Biology, full text: "The larvae are predominantly fruit breeders. The flies are common indoors, attracted by fruit and fermented drinks."

* Additional specimens examined: 3 lines, one locatality in Swizerland

* Comments: 8 lines noting its use as a laboratory animal.

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sounds better than what i have currently.... 11 pages of keys with no figures from 1965,

i get what you mean about the lack of further info, (but then try using a Royal Entomological Soc Key... great for ID, but next to nothing about the fly in question!!!)

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if thats all it says about D melanogaster id hate to see what it says about D Obscura!

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Two pages in description+a page of figures, 3.5 lines on distribution (on a page with 2 columns of text), nothing on biology, two Swiss localities listed. But it has a Nordic distribution map! (some species have, other don't, I cannot see any pattern here...).

Apply hate per taste

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a pet hate of mine is keys that dont include biology, its acts as a further aid to ID, if the location/substrate of capture matches the literature if further confirmation!, its like a specimen with out a data label!