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Hello,

I've been studying Stratiomydae in my area for the last 4 years now. I found 25 species and I feel that there's not that much left to discover around here except perhaps for the tiny Zabrachia's. Does anybody know how to find these flies (preferably adults)?

Mvg
Nico Geiregat
Belgium

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Paul weet daar ?lles van!!

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Adults are extremely difficult to find. The only 'reliable' way you can find them is to find an infested dead tree (I usually find larvae/pupae on dead pines) in a period they will emerge (June probably the best time). You may encounter an adult on a trunk that way. Otherwise you must be extremely lucky to find one. My theory is that adults will spend most of there time in/near the canopy (with exception of the time that females are ovipositing). With aphids on young needles there will be honeydew available in the canopy that they can feed on. If you like a challenge: Go hunting in the tree tops.

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Hey Nico!

Check my site at http://home.hccnet.nl/p.j.nellestijn/diptera/ ; select 'Various families' from the menu. There you find some info on my experiences with Zabrachia. I reared both species once from pine logs; in the table you find the collection dates for the larvae.

Rearing is not too difficult once you found them. Would be interesting to see if they have different preferences for tree species as the lit. suggests: minutissima in Pinus, tenella in vartious trees, also deciduous.

Groet, Louis