Thread subject: Diptera.info :: shiny black fly with big red eyes (muscid) and another one (lonchaeid?)
Posted by
Sundew on 22-01-2008 00:11
#1
Hi,
This rather small fly I met several times (may be, not the same individual, but the same species, I suppose), and all my efforts to take good pictures gave more or less unsatisfying results. Nevertheless I show them here, as it might be a common species and well known to you.
All pics are from the Island of Usedom in August.
Regards, Sundew
Edited by
Sundew on 22-01-2008 15:39
Posted by
Sundew on 22-01-2008 00:12
#2
Here are pics from another day. (The white lines are spider silk.)
Edited by
Sundew on 22-01-2008 00:13
Posted by
Andre on 22-01-2008 00:40
#3
Lonchaeidae...
#4
Not Lonchaeidae but Muscidae.
Posted by
Andre on 22-01-2008 09:40
#5
Posted by
Xespok on 22-01-2008 13:15
#6
Possibly a male Hydrotaea sp.
Posted by
Kahis on 22-01-2008 13:40
#7
Hydrotaea ignava ?
#8
I also think it is
H.ignava
Posted by
Sundew on 22-01-2008 15:37
#9
Wow - I wouldn't have expected that we came that close to even a species! You are all really great.
Now, funnily, I have some more pictures of a black shiny fly with red eyes that were next in my sequence of photoshooting of that day. At a first glance I thought they showed the same fly, but then I saw it sat on another leaf, was smaller, had more distant eyes, and the wing venation seemed to be less complex. So I'd like to show you this fly, too - perhaps this is a lonchaeid to comfort Andre?
Thanks for the first ID and in advance for the second, Sundew
Posted by
Sundew on 29-01-2008 21:54
#10
Really no more comments? Now, does the last pic series show a lonchaeid, and how can I discriminate between black shiny muscids (above) and lonchaeids?
Sundew
#11
Yes, I think the last pictures show a lonchaeid. The muscid has bigger, more bristly legs, and there is a well-marked thoracic suture. Also its wings are more widely spread.
The lonchaeid has the appearance of a little old lady who doesn't want to cause any trouble. The
Hydrotaea is full of confidence - ready for action. This is more obvious in the way they move. The lonchaeid will be rather slow and deliberate, the mucscid more jerky and "on edge".
Posted by
Andre on 30-01-2008 14:26
#12
So sweet of you to try to comfort me... that thought alone comforts me well
PS: did you know there is a Syrphid genus, called Psilota, which looks a lot like Lonchaidae? Try to shoot that one in april/may
Posted by
Sundew on 30-01-2008 21:34
#13
Many thanks, Tony - this is an excellent description! I should be able to tell the little things apart now. And Andre is happy again, so all ends well with this thread.
Cordially, Sundew