---

I'm amature macro photographer from Moscow, Russia. Can't identify some flies, need your help. All photo made in Mosow region.








Thanks!

EDIT Paul Beuk: url tags replaced with img tags.

---

Hi and welcome Double A. Very nice photos. Sorry I can't help identify them. I think it would be better if you use the IMG instead of URL tags so the photos show up on this forum, and one species per thread. Right Paul?

The first photo would look like this

---

Now I will try to identify but remember I?m very, very novice in ID flies. so don?t trust in them.

Here are my guess:
Perhaps the first could be a Syrphidae fly...
The second one I think that fly belongs to the Tachinidae family
The third too..
The four don?t know...
The fifth perhaps Tachinidae fly
The last belongs to the Tachinidae fly.

---

It is female Eristalinus aeneus, Syrphidae.
Nikita

---

Thanx a lot! And other flies?

---

Hi Crex! I've made a lot of undefined photos. There would be lots and lots of threads

---

Thanx!

---

As long as you do not post them all at once but several at the time, once or twise a day, there is no problem with many threads.

---

ezhemuha11.jpg - Tachinidae
muha21.jpg - Muscidae, possibly Phaonia
muha31.jpg - Muscidae (I think!)
muha41.jpg - Muscidae, possibly Helina
muha51.jpg - Muscidae
And I'd agree with Crex that it's much easier for everyone if you post lots of threads, each with its own picture. Lots and lots of threads is what we love!

---

http://nature.doublea.ru/pix/ezhemuha11.jpg is Tachinidae - possibly Solieria but I wouldn't like to bet on it!!

---

"ezhemuha11.jpg - Tachinidae"
How rich is Russian language!
"ezhemuha" could be translate into English as hedgehog-fly, common name for Tachinidae. Is common name for Tachinidae family in any other language?

---

Boring old "Parasite Flies" in English & "Raupenfleigen" (Caterpillar Flies) in German They also used to be called the Larvaevoridae, which I think is a nice, appropriate name too

---

In Portuguese I think, and ARMANDO could help / confirm this, the common name for tachinid fly is: VAREJEIRA.

Or translate the term directly: TACHINIDAE --> taquin?deo (which is not, of course, the common name)

---

In swedish it's Parasitflugor (Parasite flies) if you could call that a common name, I don't know ...

---

When we get the diptera family articles, one for each family, we could write down the family names in different languages too

---

Ohh..no! I made it almost all wrong! Just has two right.

Why not Tachinidae for the last one?? The other Muscidae for me apparently seemed a tachinid fly. Characters... please, so, in next time, I can avoid these mistakes.

---

On one hand I have to agree with Chris, that Larvaevoridae is well done.
But on the other hand all this names are approximately equal to ?Parasite Flies?. And name Parasite Flies means deep knowledge of flies biology, and so this names are all too ?scientificoformes?. But name ?hedgehog-fly? means no special knowledge, just visible strong bristles!
Nikita

---

Thanx!



OK

---

May be. Thanx

---

If you can see the wing venation, then look for a bend in vein M. If there is no bend, then it's almost certainly not a tachinid (though there are a couple of exceptions where vein M is cut short**). If you can't see the venation (as in the last photo), then you have to use more subtle clues.
In this case, the bristles on the thorax are quite dense and long, but the bristles on the abdomen are rather weak. To me, this suggests it is not a tachinid. Also something about the shape of the body is more muscid-like. And have a look through the gallery of Tachinidae. All of them hold the wings further apart than in the muscids, which often have the wings slightly overlapping. There's no simple answer, but it does get easier as you get more experience!

** see http://tachinidae...rcno=12901 and http://tachinidae...brcno=8801