Thread subject: Diptera.info :: small black flies from China
#1
subscutellum seems rising...
#2
I would agree with Nikita Vikhrev that it is a ephydrid. Not based on the shape of the antennae but based on the pecinate only on the dorsal surface (At least this is what I saw on the images).
#3
You might be right. I just found an illustration of
Rhynchopsilopa nitidissima in the Contributions to a manual of Palaearctic Diptera. that one also has elongate mouthparts. that Manual mentions only that species from the Middle East. i'll keep digging.
Posted by
loepa on 13-11-2007 02:12
#4
where is the picture?
Edited by
loepa on 13-11-2007 02:13
#5
I had asked Wayne Mathis about this fly, and he agreed that it is an ephydrid, also pointing out it's similarity to Rhychopsilopa! I think that is a mainly African genus, but that doesn't mean there isn't something similar in China - maybe not the same genus, but similar.
Posted by
loepa on 13-11-2007 06:11
#6
in Literature, two Rhychopsilopa recorded in China:
Rhychopsilopa longicornis Haliday,1966 Fujian
Rhychopsilopa magnicornis Hendel,1913 Taiwan
#7
as we can see... the behavio(u)r can be diverse and, sometimes, unexpected.
So this must be a "no self-respecting ephydrid"
AS our Tony Irwin told!
"Bad girl" this fly.
Which are the other possibilities besides Rhychopsilopa genus?
#9
OK, I must get out more ...
#10
I just received 3 Eppendorf tubes with specimens from three localities and they appear to be
Rhynchopsilopa. On one locality there are at least two species present, one with completely yellow legs and one with partly darkened legs. These differences are accompanied by differences in the male genitalia. There even might be a third species from another locality (also with partly darkened legs). The genitalia in these specimens are not so extended as in the other dark-legged specimens and I cannot be certain if that is significant or not. I'll be in touch.
#11
BTW:
Rhynchopsilopa longicornis Haliday, 1966 should be
Lissodrosophila longicornis Okada, 1966. I will try to find the differences between the two genera.
Further, there are 20 described species of
Rhynchopsilopa, most of which are recorded from Africa. One sp[ecies is know from the Middle East, one from Sri Lanka, and another (
magnicornis) is know from Indo-China, the Malaysian Archipelago and Taiwan. The 'twentieth' species is one of uncertain status from Indonesia.
#12
Since this thread was posted 15 years ago, a revision of Chinese
Rhynchopsilopa was published in Zookeys:
https://doi.org/1...s.216.3224.
Zhang et al. 2012. A review of the species of Rhynchopsilopa Hendel from China (Diptera, Ephydridae).