mating flies - Aulacigaster

Aulacigastridae: Aulacigaster sp.

There are two species of Aulacigaster in our area - this is one of them. The banded eyes, and the characteristic colored bands between the eyes (orange, black, then silvery) allow identification to genus without running through the key. Not common, but they turn up if you are a persistent collector.

… Donald S. Chandler, 1 April, 2006 - 1:46pm

Now that I have an id, I see

Now that I have an id, I see a photo I took last year identified by Paul Beuk as Aulacigaster leucopeza. Could this be the species for this one?

… tom murray, 1 April, 2006 - 2:37pm

It could be the same species, but the name is incorrect

There was only one species (the Holarctic A. leucopeza) known from North America until the revision by Wayne Mathis and Amnon Friedberg in 1994. A. leucopeza was restricted to the Palearctic region, and what had been called "leucopeza" in North America became three new species. The species do look a lot alike, and if you are unaware of this paper, and familiar with earlier records of leucopeza from North America, leucopeza would be a logical identification. However, it is no longer the correct name, and I don't know which of the two Northeastern species your photo shows.

Reading down for the other photo I see that Joel Kits picked up on this name problem also.

… Donald S. Chandler, 1 April, 2006 - 3:11pm

Thanks Don

I'll move the other picture to the genus level.

… tom murray, 1 April, 2006 - 6:42pm