Dasylechia atrox.? - Dasylechia atrox

Great find

Hi, I'm tracking down online records for a little paper I'm writing about this species. Among other things, I'm compiling the new data available if we consider "records" shared on insect social media like this, and so I'm hoping I could get permission to include this picture in my paper. I'll include the Bugguide link in the "specimen" list, but I think including the actual pictures will help legitimize the metadata of observations like these-- since there are no physical pinned specimens to serve as vouchers, the images themselves are the data and should be entered into the permanent record so future people can double check our IDs. I will credit you as the photographer, of course, and can send you a PDF copy of the paper when it's all done if you'd like. You can let me know via email (visible on my Bugguide user page).

Thanks,
Tristan A. McKnight

… Tristan McKnight, 13 August, 2018 - 11:03pm

Yes Tristan you have my permisson :)

Email sent :)

… Angiezilla, 13 August, 2018 - 11:44pm

Freeloader flies

These little flies often show up when there is some carnage. They don't miss the opportunity

… Beatriz Moisset, 11 June, 2014 - 5:54pm

Moved

Moved from Robber Flies. Since we both concur on the identification, moving this to species now.

… Ben Coulter, 27 January, 2014 - 7:31am

Cant find it!

Now I can't find it...lol...do you have a link? :)

… Angiezilla, 27 January, 2014 - 10:58am

Bullington

Steve Bullington confirms this is Dasylechia atrox.

… Ben Coulter, 27 January, 2014 - 11:49am

A link to what?

You're on the image page. There are other tabs with additional information.

… Ben Coulter, 27 January, 2014 - 11:45am

Ha!

Sorry! I thought it had been moved again,no wonder I just kept coming back to this page ;) My multitasking is catching up to me :)

… Angiezilla, 27 January, 2014 - 11:50am

That would be

a yes. And PA was the original site of description for this rare beast. What was the actual date of the photograph?

… Herschel Raney, 27 January, 2014 - 6:17am

Not sure

I am horrible about removing pics from my camera,so the best guess based on when the pics were uploaded off my camera in Oct.,it had to be sometime in late August or early September. Update: I went through my pics at that time and they were uploaded on 10-01...based on the pics that are with them,I think this was definitely taken in the first two weeks of September. I am going by my plants that I took pics of too,and butterflies. Sorry I do not have a date. when I took the pic,I had no idea it was this special,I thought it was just an odd occurrence I had the good fortune to see. If I find any thing that can give me a better idea of a date... I will let you know :)

… Angiezilla, 27 January, 2014 - 7:39am

Metadata

Can you check the metadata (assuming you have the date and time set in your camera)? How to do so may vary somewhat with operating system and image viewer, but I right click on the photo, select "properties", then the "image" tab, and look at the "date taken" field.

Great photo, by the way.

… Tim Turner, 27 January, 2014 - 12:00pm

bad angie!

I never set the time in my camera when I bought it,so it shows Dec 11 2011. I have been searching my email and facebook,I am sure I shared/mentioned it to someone when I took the picture. I am just a gardener that loves nature,all critters big and small..so I am always taking pictures of insects and plants,but I do not really record anything. I am sorry I do not have a date.But I am trying to find one.

… Angiezilla, 27 January, 2014 - 12:05pm

Thanks

It would be really valuable for the record if you were able to find the date, though if you can't, that's okay. Thanks for trying to locate this though.

Just a thought-have the batteries been in the camera the whole time, and is it still showing a date? You might be able to determine the date by counting the number of days from the date it shows now back to the date Dec. 11, 2011 from the metadata.

… Ben Coulter, 27 January, 2014 - 12:09pm

Ok...

..here is what i come up with. The last file before the one this pic is on was uploaded to my computer August 21,the pictures are in the beginning of the next uploaded file.maybe about 50 pics in.Which means,I had to dump them on August 21 so I could take more pics.I run it to the end. I would not have uploaded them if I had not wanted to use my camera,I seriously will put it off until I cannot use my camera anymore.consistently.
I don't take pics everyday,but when I do,I always take at least 100,there were Morning Glory and sunflower pics in there,they were peaking and the robber fly is in the middle of the photos for that day. So My first guess at the first 2 weeks of September are wrong. I will bet everything that it was August 21 2013 that I took that pic. ;)
A little strange I know,but I know myself and I am 99.9% sure of that date.

… Angiezilla, 27 January, 2014 - 12:26pm

For sure!

I am still looking at my pics and I have even more reason to believe that pic was taken on August 21st:
The morning glories in the pic were all about to close...that made me remember why. I had to wait for my pics to upload and the sun was moving around the front of my house towards the back. I was taking pics of them right before she or he flew above me on my porch. It caught my eye because of the size. i followed it out towards my sunflower garden,that is where I got the pics....right after the pics of him or her,there are pics of my sunflowers.like I said,the pics of the Robber fly are within the first 50 photos on the file. they load in the order they were taken. I truly believe it is safe to go with 8-21-13.
Also,this pic is the cropped version of the original. I cropped it so I could print a copy for my son. I do have other photos of him/her(?),all from the same angle,as I was afraid to make to much movement,but it did move a little, you can see a little more of it here and there.

… Angiezilla, 27 January, 2014 - 12:43pm

Don't sweat it

August sounds good for this record. And some of your shots I will probably frass after a bit. Only the second photo sequence ever taken of this insect.

… Herschel Raney, 27 January, 2014 - 10:17pm

TY:)

I am pretty excited ,while I think about people who have probably hunted and hoped to see this guy. I fell upon him by chance. I feel some level of responsibility to provide as many details as possible ;)
If there is anything else I can do to help,just ask :)
*Also,is there anyway I can pass these pics on to BugGuide and they could have the rights to the pics? I just feel they would be in better hands,they will just sit in my files and I will show the occasional person and we will talk about them for a minute,then they will be forgotten. I really would like them to go where they would be best put to use.

… Angiezilla, 27 January, 2014 - 10:29pm

Additional pics

If you want to upload additional photos of this individual, you can click the add image link under the photo and it will automatically link them with this one. It might be worthwhile if they are from different angles, as these three photos now on BugGuide represent all known photos of live specimens of this species on the internet. Thanks again for this great addition!

… Ben Coulter, 27 January, 2014 - 3:42pm

Done! And....

*Also,is there anyway I can pass these pics on to BugGuide and they could have the rights to the pics? I just feel they would be in better hands,they will just sit in my files and I will show the occasional person and we will talk about them for a minute,then they will be forgotten. I really would like them to go where they would be best put to use.
I do not know how to contact anyone here,or how to share my contact info privately.

… Angiezilla, 27 January, 2014 - 10:42pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request. Thanks again for taking the time to add this. Checking with expert for confirmation of Dasylechia. Originally seen at this forum post:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/871510

… Ben Coulter, 26 January, 2014 - 11:04pm

My pleasure :)

I am pretty excited actually,can't wait to see the verdict ;) TY :)

… Angiezilla, 26 January, 2014 - 11:11pm