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Dear Forum,

I found two robber flies in Rhodes, near Faliraki, one on 07_06_2017 and the otherone on 11_06_2017. Both appear to be males of the same sp., most likely Laphystia.
Is it possible to ID them?
Thanks in advance!

Greetings,
Henrik

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The second specimen held its genital apparatus in a strange position, which may help identification.

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From above:

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I am baffled, stunned, i believe that the upper one is a female, note the difference with the lower one, the strange peculiar hypopygium....reminds me of some Heteropogon species.... but it is not that......i am pretty sure it is not Laphystia regarding antennae, but belongs to another subfamilily, Brachyrhopalinae (Dikow 2009). At this moment i dare not say what genus even..... need to study....:-)

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Thank you for your interest! I am quite excited...

One more data: size is about 13mm. (But the fact that the abdomen is curved may bias my judgement.)

Greetings,
Henrik

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The last proper tergite (7th) of the male seems to have a two-pronged posterior projection, which may help identification:

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Iranopogon cf. brandti : wow !! Totally mysterious fly, with affinities in dispute. (In my opinion, it clearly belongs to Trigonomiminae -- which these amazing photos of Piros show well.) I do not believe this fly has ever been seen or reported on since original description of Timon-David, 1955 (Bull. Soc. Entom. France, 60:103) -- the holotype being a single female from Iran (Fort Mian-Kotal; May 1937). Fabulous work; please add to gallery.

Cheers, Eric

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Thank you Eric for solving this.....for me too :-)

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Many, many thanks Eric!

Iranopogon gaspari is known from Rhodes - don't you think this is it?

Greetings from Hungary,

Henrik

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My bad; I didn't know about that sp. until now! (Iranopogon gaspari Tomasovic, 1999). That definitely is the correct ID. Tomasovic has figures of the male genitalia of I. gaspari (pg. 95) like your photo above!

Thanks again Henrik!

Cheers, Eric.

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Thank you!