Pelastoneurus

possibly P. lamellatus

if Van Duzee's key is to be trusted, though it seems very subjective @ couplet 12; but Robinson 1964 states females are not reliably told apart

… Brad Barnd, 8 January, 2016 - 12:31am

Moved

Moved from Longlegged Flies.

… Brad Barnd, 28 January, 2012 - 5:59pm

Moved

Moved from Tachytrechus.

… Brad Barnd, 27 January, 2012 - 9:56pm

Color is off

If the color is accurate this doesn't match any species of Tachytrechus from Florida. T. protervus has darker legs, first segment of antenna dark on top, and possibly has the bend in M in a different place. See Melander (1900), Greene (1922)

… John F. Carr, 27 January, 2012 - 8:16pm

Color is accurate

So I probably have the wrong genus... Any ideas?

Characters used to key (MoND): vertex of head not excavated; C continuous to M; R 4+5 and M converging; hind femur with preapical bristle on anterodorsal surface (broken off on side visible here); scape with setae above; arista dorsal, not apical; acrostichal setae present; no dorsal bristle on hind basitarsus.

From there I was at the Tachytrechus couplet, and the fly seemed to have a projecting face. If my error is at this couplet, then it would key on to Paraclius.

… Brad Barnd, 27 January, 2012 - 9:36pm

Call for help

This would be a good one for diptera.info (with a note that the color is wrong for American Tachyrtrechus). The answer might be, the Paraclius-Pelastoneurus-Tachytrechus complex is a mess. If so you could dump it in the Paraclius or Pelastoneurus page,(1) adding the third genus name.

… John F. Carr, 28 January, 2012 - 11:30am

I'll post it over there

thks John

… Brad Barnd, 28 January, 2012 - 12:32pm

Marc Pollet on diptera.info says the bulging face is characteristic of Pelastoneurus. I'll try and see if I can key it in Robinson. (Looking at the key, it relies a lot on male characters, so probably need to find a male)

… Brad Barnd, 28 January, 2012 - 5:53pm

Bleached?

I was wondering if it might have faded in alcohol, but I don't see even a trace of color pattern.

… John F. Carr, 28 January, 2012 - 7:12am

Legs or thorax?

My experience is that these hold their colors well.

There is a pattern on the thorax (two median purple stripes and metallic on scutellum as well) and a pair of whitish spots visible from above laterally (barely visible in the top view). There are also lateral white spots on a couple of the abdominal segments, only visible when looking from a rear angle.

… Brad Barnd, 28 January, 2012 - 12:31pm

Paraclius

If Paraclius, then it keys to P. floridensis (Robinson 1964). Although slightly different in coloration than described, it has the single ventral bristle on the middle tibiae. The color difference may be a sex difference, as Robinson apparently only had one female specimen.

… Brad Barnd, 27 January, 2012 - 9:56pm