Tasgius? - Tasgius melanarius

Moved

… Stephen Luk, 26 May, 2008 - 10:05pm

T. ater

Nice to have this identified. I've always wanted to know what these common staphs are, having seen them around since childhood. Maybe I should look for melanarius too (looking at range data I know they are in the area). Where is this 'tooth' anyway, that I should be looking for in ater?

… Stephen Luk, 23 May, 2008 - 11:01pm

The tooth I needed to ID ater

The tooth I needed to ID ater is located on the inner margin of the mandible. Ater belongs to a different subgenus than melan*arius, which has toothed mandibles. Melan*arius belongs to a subgenus with sickle mandibles (thin, toothless blades). Both are common in the Guelph area, although ater is much rarer and is outnumbered by the other species by about 5 to 1 in the guelph collection.

Cheers,
Adam

… Adam Brunke, 24 May, 2008 - 4:36pm

melanarius, after all?

Hi Adam, I've posted a second image showing just the head and jaws. I happened to spread this specimen with the jaws open, so these are in clear view. They don't seem to have teeth, so could it be that your initial suspicion was right?

… Stephen Luk, 26 May, 2008 - 11:19am

You're right about those mand

You're right about those mandibles...I wonder what that toothlike thing was in the other pic? Unquestionably melanarius.

Cheers,
Adam

… Adam Brunke, 26 May, 2008 - 6:51pm

Maybe a palp...

or perhaps the angle. I was getting confused myself, so went and double-checked the specimen itself. At least now we have a clear image of the mandibles of this species!

… Stephen Luk, 26 May, 2008 - 10:04pm

It is...

Tasgius, looks like melanarius

Cheers,
Adam

… Adam Brunke, 22 May, 2008 - 11:10pm

Thanks again!

Since you aren't an editor, you won't be able to see the full-sized image. Would you like me to send you a larger version of the image so you can have a better look at the details?

… Stephen Luk, 22 May, 2008 - 11:30pm

I see a tooth on the enlarged photo

...which means it must be ater.

Cheers,
Adam

… Adam Brunke, 23 May, 2008 - 7:30pm

Sure, I'll see what I can do

Sure, I'll see what I can do with some extra detail.

Adam

… Adam Brunke, 23 May, 2008 - 9:44am

How large is too large?

I'm just wondering, is there a size limit (either file or pixel size, or both) to the files I can submit? This was originally 3794 x 1896 at 3.10 MB, and I was told that the image is too big. I have resized it to 2000 at the longest side (still a very high pixel count), so at least the editors can see it expanded. I certainly understand, though, that even if the image is any larger, it may not necessarily lead to a better ID.

… Stephen Luk, 22 May, 2008 - 5:05pm