---

Hi,
For my 1st post in this forum, i would like to share this fly i never saw before. Do you know more about it ?
Taken in the Calanques, near Marseille, south France on 10/05/05.


Regards,
Stephan

---

I will hazard a guess to the genus and maybe this will lure someone out who has a better knowledge of these beasties than I have. I think it could be a species of Coenosia, family Muscidae.

---

Perhaps Paul ment to say Phaonia or Helina? The general habitus on Coenosia is completely different (eyes not approximated on frons etc.). Phaonia and Helina are large genera and reliable identification from photos is often impossible.

Nonetheless, this particular male looks like the Helina reversio (Harris). My Finnish specimens of this very common fly have a darker thorax, but comparison of dead & dried material with photographs or living flies can be very confusing (and fun). H. reversio is also infamous for its subtle but extensive variabilty - it has been descibed over and over again by various authors. Its distribution covers all of Europe (from Crete and Portugal to the mid-alpine zone in the arctic!).

---

No, I am afraid I meant Coenosia because it resembled a few images I came across. But like I said, I hoped it might lure someone out into this thread who does know more about it than I do. You took the bait.