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I've collected quite a few anthomyiids this year among the muscids and tachinids, and was wondering if anyone could suggest a good starting point for their identification?

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Michael Acland will happily send you his key if you email him. I can give you his email if you need it, but it will have to wait until I am at home, as I don't have it at work.

I warn you though, trying to ID the little blighters will be deeply frustrating.

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Thanks Susan, an e-mail address would be useful. It would be satisfying even to get a handle on the family as a whole - they're just a big, black hole to me at the moment!

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Smoggycb - Susan is pretty right. It is not easy to follow the key. As you see there are no much IDs to anthomyiids flies in the gallery.

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Hennig, W., 1966-1976. 63a. Anthomyiidae. In: Die Fliegen der pal?arktischen Region 7(1) (Erwin Lindner, ed.): 1-974, pl. 1-78. E. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

It's a thousand-page tome with detailed descriptions, keys and figures. Unfortunately the price for this volume is pretty damn high (600? ).

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Thanks for the advice (and thanks for the e-mail address Susan). The anthomyiids are just about the only things I have left to id before the start of the season, so I should be able to put some serious time into them!

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so expensive, indeed...

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Dear all, this was Michael Acklands answer to my e-mail

"The whole of my "package" of the British Anthomyiidae is shortly to be
added to the web site: http://tachinidae.org.uk/site/index.php ", from
where you should be able to download it for free. I am not quite sure
when it will be available, but Chris Raper has it in hand. I will let
you know when it is ready.

It will still be available on a CD, and the price in future will be ?5
to cover expenses, but I am hoping that most people will be happy to
download it."

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I hope Ackland allow it being available for download on diptera.info ...