Robber Fly 5 - Diogmites

Moved

… Gayle and Jeanell Strickland, 17 November, 2009 - 2:04pm

Sorry, I gave misleading

advice here. The yellow bristles are NOT diagnostic for angustipennis. At the time I was thinking specifically (and I now know mistakenly) about the possibility of this being D. basalis, which has black bristles. This individual is angustipennis on the basis of the marks on the thorax not being strongly differentiated from their background (as in the case of many species that have strong black stripes on the thorax).
Actually, now that I have made the mistake of looking at these Diogmites pictures, I notice the last three segments of the abdomen are not bright shining red as they should be for female angustipennis, so I don't know what it is.

… norman and cheryl lavers, 17 November, 2009 - 8:48am

Moved

Moved from Hanging-thieves.

… Gayle and Jeanell Strickland, 15 October, 2006 - 9:17am

Moved

Moved from Hanging-thieves.

… Gayle and Jeanell Strickland, 15 October, 2006 - 9:13am

Diogmites

Check the hairs standing up on the pronotum (I can't quite make them out in your picture), and the bristles on the sides of the first abdominal segment. If they are yellow it is angustipennis, if they are black, or mostly black, then you might have something other than angustipennis

… norman and cheryl lavers, 3 October, 2006 - 8:17pm

Thanks Norm,

I have added a closeup of the first abdominal segment. This clearly shows the yellow bristles on the sides. Also, examination of the hairs on the pronotum revealed that these were also yellow.
I am delighted to learn how to identify Diogmites angustipennis!
Gayle

… Gayle and Jeanell Strickland, 5 October, 2006 - 10:00pm