Good evening
I would be interested with your opinions regarding this larva
living in a strange pond whose I suspect the water very polluted (today by soap or detergent)
I propose a picture of this larva I found floating close to a plant piece.
This larva has alike a pair of short prolegs close to the head (mouth) aperture
The length of the contracted body is about 6 mm
the head
anal spiracles
Could it be a Scatophagidae ?
thanks for the help
Solito de Solis
Thank you for this remark
Indeed, I had the feeling of possible Sciomyzidae
I think I have not the view you asked terminal segment taken from behind)
Sorry... I will propose you the clip, in the afternoon
And in the clip... you will see the movment of the anal part, a little blurry, but we can guess
(you will guess better than me)
merci
SDS
As I told you, here is the mini video clip concerning this larva
(unfortunately sometimes a little bit blurry when the animal is moving)
If I consult Manual of neartic diptera Vol2 pp936 , I have seen Elgiva solicita
Are we close to this attribution ?
Elgiva sp. for sure. It has a relatively long last segment which could also be seen in your first photo and in 0:21 sec. in your video I see 2 small fused ventral anal lobes, so it definitely Elgiva. To be sure about the species name (cucularia=rare, solicita=common) you need to study the number of lobes in the anterior spiracle. However solicita is very common as larva and I have seen cucularia only once (as a pupa: http://www.dipter...to_id=6591)
no, it isn't, this looks more like some kind of maxillary palp. The anterior spiracle is positioned on both sides of the head. It is placed at the front of those (silvery colored) breathing tubes inside the body. Between the first and second thoracic segment they come into contact with the body surface. Probably they have about 5-7 lobes.
