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Netherlands, 2023-10-22

I am aware how difficult Anthomyiidae species are to identify, but I was at least hoping to get some feedback on the charistics I have listed, or that I have made some mistakes on the way.

Antennae: bare to short
Mid tibia: 2 av, 1 pd
Back tibia: 4 stronger and 3 weaker setae pd
Back of head: somewhat bare
Mouth part: not shining black
Prealar: Unsure about the supra-alar vs prealar, but believe there is a strong prealar
Scutellum beneath hairs: seemingly bare, but might be hard to say from these pictures.

I believe either Delia or Phorbia?

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Sander, there is a very good Dutch resource for Anthomyiidae beginners (and more advanced!). Go to Jan Wind's website - Diptera-in-Beeld.nl - and click on Anthomyiidae in the list of families. The first link you see is Joke's Anthomyiidae voor Dummies om Bloemvlieg genera te Onderscheiden. It's very helpful.

James

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Hi James,

Thank you very much for this feedback! I forgot to actually mention this, but I actually used this for the listed characteristics. The challenge is that I still find very difficult to identify certain characteristics due to lack of practise. Certain angles in a picture also does not make it more easy, but I hope are overcome with practise.

For example:
- I can see the two ventral-"ish" setae on the mid tibia. I can also see these are in a slightly different angle. But would this accommodate for 1 ventral and 1 anterior-ventral? Or are these still seen as 2 anterior-ventral setae?
- Phorbia is explicitly described with bare scutellum, but does this mean other unmentioned (like Delia) have hairs beneath the scutellum?
- Back of the head ("directly beneath the postocular hairs" ), are the hairs on this spot or is it too far off?
- Does this species have a "strong" prealar (I believe compared to the first notopleuron)?
- Any many more uncertainties…

Thanks once again for the feedback! Some older posts from Joke has given me some hope on Anthomyiidae, but a lot of practise is needed.

Update: The keys and illustrations of "The British Anthomyiidae" also helps in all of these aspects. Applying these to this species makes me aware not enough detail is visible for an ID. Anthomyiidae is very hard overall (practically impossible by photo from what the authors of the keys says), but females are even more difficult (even when caught).