Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Nematocera

Posted by Susan R Walter on 05-02-2006 18:09
#1
Could I please have some help identifying this one please? My first thought was Anisopodidae (eg Sylvicola), but the venation seems all wrong and I have keyed it out to Sciaridae. Really, though, I am so inexperienced with Nematocera that I will be endlessly changing my mind about what it is without your help.

Specimen caught 28.1.06 in a cemetery in East London that is now a nature reserve. Body length c4mm.
www.diptera.info/forim/5-1189-1.jpg
Edited by Susan R Walter on 05-02-2006 18:17

Posted by Nikita Vikhrev on 05-02-2006 21:18
#2
I think it is Mycetophilidae.

Posted by Paul Beuk on 06-02-2006 08:17
#3
Even better, I think it is the genus Mycetophila though I should check. The large setae on the tibiae are too short for a species of Dynatosoma.
Edited by Paul Beuk on 06-02-2006 08:32

Posted by Susan R Walter on 07-02-2006 13:51
#4
Thank you both - I did have a spell of thinking Mycetophilidae, as the venation seemed to match quite nicely, but got sidetracked by the fact that my specimen's wings are longer than its body, and all the illustrations I have show Mycetophilidae with shorter wings. I have a book which lists Sciara sp as Mycetophilidae - have they been split into two families now?

Posted by Paul Beuk on 07-02-2006 14:08
#5
The split was a long time ago already. There are fungus gnats with very short wings but, as you can see, alos ones with longer wings. Both wings and abdomen can be relatively long or short compared to the rest of the body, depending on the species.