fly - Delia platura - BugGuide.Net

Delia platura (Meigen), female

Moved from Root-Maggot Flies. Tentatively ID'd from specimen, now a photo-voucher. Thanks Tom.

I'm pretty sure this it, based on some info John sent me. Many thanks to John for his assistance.

… Brad Barnd, 6 July, 2015 - 11:42pm

Any more pictures?

Do you have any pictures showing hind legs, calypters, "chin", etc.? I can say several things it is not (bare arista and crossed interfrontal bristles rule out several genera).

… John F. Carr, 5 October, 2014 - 9:48pm

what about Pegomya (Nupedia)?

Or just Nupedia, not sure whether it is still a subgenus or a full genus.

Observed characters: A1 extends to wing margin, scutellum with ventral hairs present; C without coarse setae ventrally; kat bristles not equilateral (like fig 18 in MoND); proep without hairs; katep without hairs; 3 pair post dcentrals; lower calypter same length as upper; proboscis normal; eyes bare; arista apparently bare.

That gets me to couplet 32 in MoND. There are two, maybe three, PD bristles on the hind tibia. The third, most apical one, to me, seems more dorsally placed. Considering that to be the case, the mid tibiae lacks an AV bristle, IF setae are cruciate, and the prementum is mostly pruinose. This leads to my inital guess of Nupedia, in which case this female keys to dissecta (Meigen) in both (1)(2).

… Brad Barnd, 11 June, 2015 - 11:13pm

Not dissecta

"Nupedia dissecta" in American literature refers to Pegoplata infirma (Meigen). That species (like the rest of the genus group) has female palpi distally expanded. It should have 1+2+2 av+ad+pd on the hind tibia, the lower pd long, unlike this fly which has many ad. It also has a shining patch on the sternopleuron, which should be easy to see if present.

Is this a female?

I would say 3 pd, not 2, on hind tibia. Dorsals on hind tibia are quite rare in the family. From memory, Calythea has them.

The presence or absence of fine hairs under the costa may be more useful than the coarse hairs found in Fucellia. The flies with long proboscis in the key are now synonyms of Leucophora.

… John F. Carr, 12 June, 2015 - 7:23pm

thanks John

It is a female. I'll take another look and see if I can make some more sense of it. Really appreciate your knowledge.

It has 3 AV, 7 or 8 AD on hind tibia; mid tibia has 2 AD, 2 PD, and 2 PV.

… Brad Barnd, 13 June, 2015 - 2:22pm

couple of different paths

One of the hind tibia possibly has 2 weak distal PV bristles, but the other tibia does not. However, I think they are more ventral than PV. If considered present it might lead to something like Anthomyia mimetica, but I don't have a description of the female to compare against.

Otherwise, head shape, lack of enlarged tarsi & ovipositor form along with lack of fine setulae on venral side of C makes me think this may be Pegohylemyia.

I don't understand the difference in couplet 73 of MoND in cheek shape. The two figures referenced (14 vs 11) don't look much different to me.

… Brad Barnd, 13 June, 2015 - 4:00pm

only one other picture

Not much different angle, but maybe it helps a little.

… tom murray, 5 October, 2014 - 10:01pm

Moved

Moved from Flies.

… John F. Carr, 24 April, 2014 - 9:07pm