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Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 6:13 pm
by Gruditch
Can anyone help me ID these Flies.
![Image](http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb257/gruditch/Fly850.jpg)
Gruditch
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 8:02 pm
by IAC
Hi Gruditch.....they are real crackers ,never seen anything like them before.....I would however say they are a Tachinid species....probably Gymnosoma........maybe. Hope that helps anyway
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Cheers IAC.
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 8:07 pm
by IAC
Its me again.....found some more info .Gymnosoma Rotundatum.......very certain of this.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
...............Google it for pic.
Cheers again IAC.
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 8:31 pm
by Gruditch
Cheers IAC, Gymnosoma Rotundatum it is, I had just looked all through the fly picks on WAB with no luck.
Gruditch
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 8:40 pm
by Piers
Gruditch,
Great pics of a great fly! Gymnosoma Rotundatum are parasites of certain species of Shield Bugs. Can I ask where the pics were taken (rough area - no need to give the exact site).
Many thanks indeed,
Felix.
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:34 am
by Gruditch
Hi Felix, I took the pic at Farley Mount, Hampshire. I've obviously never seen these before, are they quite rare
Gruditch
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:27 pm
by Piers
Hi Gruditch,
In answer to your question: yes they are really!!
Gymnosoma rotundatum is known from about 10 - 12 sites in the south east, and where it does occur it can be fairly numerous. However, it is currently thought to be restricted to Surrey and Sussex, although Hampshire and Kent
do have areas of suitable habitat, and there have been one or two records (although not as far as I am aware from Farley Mount).
In short, you may have stumbled across a fairly significant find!!!
The chances of mis-identification are low as it is a very distinctive insect.
I shall do some research and follow this up and let you know.
Cracking find..!
All the best,
Felix.
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:07 pm
by Rogerdodge
Nice one Gary - trust you to come up with something a bit special!
Perhaps someone can ID this beautiful creature that frightened off a Common Blue as I set up the tripod.
Is it a wasp?
Roger
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:40 am
by hjalava
That belongs most probably to the family Tenthredinidae (Hymenoptera).
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:03 pm
by IAC
Hi Rodger, it is a Privet Sawfly (Macrophya punctumalbum)...
http://www.gardensafari.net/english/pic ... malbum.htm IAC.
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:18 pm
by Rogerdodge
So it is!
What a fascinating group of animals they are, and so colourful.
Thanks for the help.
Roger
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:37 pm
by Piers
Hi Gruditch.
I ran your sighting (and photograph) past an acquaintance of mine who specialises in the Tachinidae. He was pretty excited about it too!
Sadly, it isn't a new county record for Gymnosoma Rotundatum but it is a new record for Farley Mount, and probably the first colony to be found this far west, so it's pretty important; especially (as your photograph suggests) there is a breeding population.
The record can only be taken as tentative however (there are some continental species which look
very similar) until such time as a voucher specimen can be taken and a firm identification made from key diagnostic features for
rotundum under a microscope.
And all this goes to show that some of the other insect orders can be just as fascinating, beautiful, and exciting as butterflies!!
Felix.
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:00 pm
by Gruditch
Thanks Felix, I owe you one
Cheers Gruditch
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:18 pm
by Dave McCormick
Hope you guys don't mind, but could anyone ID this fly I got a pic of this evening?
![Image](http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/51/fly1be8.png)
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:14 pm
by IAC
Hi Dave still no clue.......try this...
http://syrphidae.com/
Cheers IAC ,.........GOOD LUCK!!!
Re: Any body any good at Flies
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:57 pm
by Dave McCormick
Thanks IAC, I will check that link out.