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These keys aren't exactly 'new' because Mike has been distributing them on CD for some time. But recently he asked if I could put the files on my tachinid website so that people can download them directly. You can find all his keys to UK Anthomyidae, with figures etc, at http://tachinidae.../antho.php

Mike would like to make contact with everyone using his keys so he has asked me to password the download, similar to the way I distrubute the central european tachinid key. To receive the password just email Mike (address on the page) and he'll send it to you by return.

If there are any problems with the site or the download just let me know.

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wow!! great stuff! I uploaded right now the file and it is great stuff! Congrats!!

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Thanks for your kind remarks Jorge. I lost this thread (forgot which forum it was in) so this reply is somewhat late. I hope to update the keys this year if it rains a lot!

I take this opportunity to say that your photos of Helina clara are really the best I have seen. Close up photos of anthomyiids would make it easy to identify; I don't know how you got the depth of field?

I was investigating today if I could screw in a macro lens onto my Fuji Fine Pix, it's got some threads on the lens bit. I asked a chap in the local camera shop, and he showed me a small lens (only about an inch long) which was not expensive, ?40 and X4 I think. I will take my camera in the shop and try it out.

For the time being I shall have to stick with my rather poor attempts to shoot through the binocular eyepiece, which works better than I thought.


Michael

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Thank you!
I put the specimen near an angle 90? in relation to the camera so I can have almost the whole fly in the same plane. Otherwise I would need to make stacking..

I'm eagerly waiting for that new edition.

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This is good oppotunity to say "thank you" to Michael.
I use Michael's key during 1,5 years. It isn't an easy key to use due to difficulty of family and luck of dicriptions/illustrations. But still it is the best source so far.
Another source is Suwa and Darvas key for genera of Anthomyiidae.

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Suwa made a good job of an impossible task, and, like all generic keys, it is very difficult to reach a satisfactory conclusion. The reason is that the genera of Anthomyiidae are characterized by the structure of the male and female genitalia. So closely related species may have different chaetotactic characters. These are the main externally visible characters. So that if one writes a key in which one couplet runs to species with an anteroventral seta on the mid tibia (a good and easily recognisable character) one will end up with (as a made up example) 2 species of Botanophila, 4 species of Delia and miscellaneous species of several genera.

The only reliable key to genera would be one to genitalia, and that would explain their phylogenetic groundplan; but means that one would have to dissect every specimen to identify it to genus (and species). And that is exactly what I do when examining material from some little known area, such as the Altai Mountains of S. Russia. When I have 2 or more specimens with the same genitalia, I then study the outward appearance of the fly, make a description, and then I may be able to separate others of the same species. Often however some later specimens turn out to be another, and new, species.

That is why my key to British genera leads to several groups for some of the genera.

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Hi,

I'd like to identify some of my Anthomyiidae, but the provisional key is no longer available. Do you know if it will be possible to download it again in future?

Thank you

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Hope too !!!

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Members of the Dipterists Forum can download the keys from the DF website (Resources/DF membership area). I don't know if it's available elsewhere.