Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Tachina fera
#1
I think this is
Tachina fera. Can someone confirm please? c15mm, on an umbellifer Apiaciae, central France, 21 June 2007. The place is an area of disturbed sandy soil that has had many 'weedy' wildflowers spring up, near a small fishing lake and surrounded by cereal crops.
Posted by
ChrisR on 08-07-2007 17:14
#3
Could be
T. fera, if not
T. magnicornis 
I'd like to see a few specimens of
T. magnicornis some time just to check them out a bit.
#4
Having looked at the key more thoroughly, I think it might well be
T magnicornis. The frons seems very wide and the black median stripe widens out again on tergite 5. Also the tarsi seem to be a bit darker than the tibia.
Sadly, I did not collect the beast. I had stopped to check the site for beeater nests in the sand banks of the lake, and had my mother-in-law in tow. I suspect that suggesting we leap about trying to catch 'blowflies' would not have been the ideal way to strengthen our somewhat shaky relationship.
I'll see what I can do for you later this month
#5
Theo - Arp would like you to comment on this thread
(I'd quite like your comments as well
)
Chris - no Tachina collected this month in Indre et Loire
. Lots of nuclear powered Tabanids on a mission though
Posted by
Zeegers on 31-07-2007 17:06
#6
Difficult to say.
Some females, like this one, are quite intermediate. I have my own set of features to rely on, but these are not visible on pictures.
One can forget about the shape of the black vitta, it's unreliable.
Susan, if you can email me an original of the second one, I might give it a try.
Theo