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May I ask a terminological question?

Supra-alar bristles on thorax keep appearing in keys now and then, but I must confess that it has never been clear to me to which bristles that term actually refers.

They have been illustrated in the Sciomyzidae-volume in the FES-series, but in that picture the wing is missing.

And yesterday while checking some empidids, my problem returned with the genus Rhamphomyia .

So, where are these bristles exactly situated compared to the wing base and the rest of thorax, could anybody here please tell?

Thanks in advance.

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If you look down on the fly dorsally you will see longitudinal rows of bristles along the scutum. The most central pair are the acrostichals ... then working out you come to the dorsocentrals, intra-alars and then supra-alars So they are the row of bristles closest to the wing base.

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KWQ:

Please find attached a modified figure taken from Volume 1 of the Manual of Nearctic Diptera in order to give you a better idea where to look for....

so long,
xylo

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I added the sa to the Glossary.