---

Found draught in a pool, 2016, october the 9th (Iberia: Catalonia: Girona: Beuda, 350 masl)

The german Germany key Geller-Grimm drove me to "Aneomochterus confusus" which in my region means "Cerdistini" (If i'm not wrong):
"Dorsocentral and acrostichal bristles weakly developed or entirely lacking anterior to transverse suture; facial gibbosity restricted to lower third of face".

Folllowing Tsacas 1968 I get to Aneomochterus confusus, but genitalia is quite different, from the other I have in collection.

---

...

---

...

---

...4

---

...5

---

...6

---

...7 and...

---

... 8

---

Have a look at another genus, Tolmerus pyragra....

---

Thank you very much Reinaud
I will look what I did wrong, and make me feel a bit angry
Best wishes
Rafael

---

How did you get to Cerdistus, which key did you use?

---

Hi

I used the german online Germany key Geller-Grimm that drive me to "Aneomochterus confusus" which in my region means "Cerdistini" (If i'm not wrong):
"Dorsocentral and acrostichal bristles weakly developed or entirely lacking anterior to transverse suture; facial gibbosity restricted to lower third of face".
But both characteristics then are wrong?

---

Not all details are often clearly visible and some are subject to interpretation and variable which makes it hard to reach the right conclusion. Experience will make up for that in time.
On your third picture the pretty strong DC anterior of the transverse are clearly visible which illustrates the point of interpretation. Although the facial gibbosity isn't very big in this creature, it is still much bigger than in the "Cerdistini" a tribus which is now referred to as the Neomochtherini. I would add to the recognition for this tribus is the usually bulbous hypopygium, Once you have seen a lot of Tolmerus species and Neomochtherus species you will recognise them fairly easy :-) (in Europe)

---

Thank you very much Reinaud, I will ask Piluca which keys is she using

All the best,

Rafael

---

:-) I can guess, but i am sure she would have recognised Tolmerus quickly, she has seen a lot of them. We use a lot of keys....but when i first started i made identical "mistakes" like you did and i know it is the actual experience that teaches how to interpret the keys. Once you know the different genera it becomes more easy because you can often skip large parts. I made an illustrated key to to the Asilinae in NW Europe in which i put all genera together to avoid the mistake to end up with the wrong genus. But even then it is possible to make a mistake. There will be an English version available in bookform in the near future.... :-)

---

Thanks again
If is not in dutch I will buy you one book,...

Meanwhile, where I can find a "tree" of subfamilies, tribes and genus of asilinae (including Neomochtherini and so on)?

---

Although it is far from perfect, i still use Engel 1930 a lot. But maybe Piluca knows a key in Spanish and maybe she could write one herself :-)

---

Hi, guys

Sorry I didn't reply this thread, I have been out for days and didn't see it...

Yes, this is my good old friend Tolmerus pyragra , one of the most common autumn Asilinae in Spain. Which, by the way, drove me mad at first but Reinoud IDed it for me years ago now and, as he points out, it is not so difficult to recognize once you get used to it.



Yes, I use Engel a lot too. He makes me often very angry but still is the best around. Reinoud is being very polite talking about this work It is not only far from being perfect, it is far from being simply 'good' for the Iberian Peninsula. But dear Engel did what he could in his time and we are thankful that at least this work exists.

And, unfortunately, no Iberian key exists Writing useful keys for the Iberian Peninsula is my golden dream but first we need to know what really exists here. A long way to go yet...

---

Thanks, Piluca :-)
(Can you read german directly or did you have an english/spanish version?)

---

Hola, Rafael

I can read German (it was fate that I had the whim to learn German when I was in my twenties; I had no idea how useful that was going to be years after!!) although not fluently. Not complaining as it is enough to study Asilidae Unfortunately none of the main works are translated into English or Spanish. That is why Reinoud's work is going to be so useful for non-German speakers