Posted by Sundew on 17-10-2016 00:02
#7
Epistrophe it is, as I do not see upstanding hairs on the upper surface of the squama in pic 1, and the orange rather than yellow colouration fits as well. After reading thoroughly the descriptions in Doczkal & Schmid (1994) (http://biostor.or...738/page/1) I came to the conclusion that E. cryptica is the best identification indeed
. As to the other species with yellow antennae: The similar E. similis has a black arista, E. ochrostoma has a different pattern of dusting of the frons, in E. flava females the yellow spots on tergite 2 reach the anterior margin, and E. melanostoma usually has a black mouth margin. However, the latter species is said to be quite variable, whereas the variability of E. cryptica is still insufficiently known. So a little uncertainty remains, but this is nearly always the case with ID from photos...Regards, Sundew