BG723 C7702 - Hamatabanus exilipalpis

Moved

Moved from Flies.

… A.W. Thomas, 18 April, 2007 - 4:40pm

Tabanus

And your shots are good enough that I can push it through my AR key. It is unfortunately 10 years old. Goes to the difficult T. longus and T. sublongus pair. Jeesh. Tony can comment. Neither of these species is in the guide.

… Herschel Raney, 17 April, 2007 - 8:57pm

There are a couple of

similar speies but I believe this is Hamatabanus exilipalpis. Most publications place this species in Tabanus but in Burger's 1955 Catalog ref. on Tabanidae page he places it in Hamatabanus

… A.W. Thomas, 18 April, 2007 - 4:38pm

Hamatabanus

It is included in my keys under the Tabanus key but it is listed as a Hamatabanus. I dropped it with 'eyes sparsely pilose'. I could not see hairs in the photo. The face is a dead ringer however. Separated in key by facial features from H. quaesitus. Thanks.

… Herschel Raney, 18 April, 2007 - 8:07pm

I could not see the hairs

on the eyes, but Pechuman et al commented "The hair on the eyes of the females may easily be overlooked". Longus and sublongus seem to be summer species. Stone described the holotype of exilipalpis from SC, May 25. Tidwell in his Louisiana paper describes sublongus as "eye green with three purple bands".

… A.W. Thomas, 18 April, 2007 - 11:01pm

To see or not to see: Hairy Eyeballs

I have added a higher resolution composite view of various areas and angles of the eye. I was unable to find any evidence of hair, either under the microscope or in the images.
I still have the specimen if other important features need to be photographed.
Gayle

… Gayle and Jeanell Strickland, 19 April, 2007 - 9:22am

Oh Oh!

Another candidate for John Burger to look at; I'll send him an e-mail,

… A.W. Thomas, 19 April, 2007 - 11:09am

John Burger

commented to me that this specimen is H. exilipalpis. I have summarized his comments on the species Info page

… A.W. Thomas, 21 April, 2007 - 7:15pm