Eriothrix rufomaculata is an incredibly common fly in mid-summer, especially on any flowery meadows. The species is very easy to identify from the red abdominal…
This year we have been lucky enough to receive records for 2 new species to the UK – Ectophasia crassipennis & Phasia aurigera. These both…
One of the most difficult problems is how to confirm/verify the identification of photos of flies that look quite like Tachina fera. I’d include in…
I always find that one of the hardest identifications to make from photos is the split between Dexiosoma caninum and the much rarer Dexia vacua.…
The genus Phryxe contains a few common species (nemea, vulgaris & heraclei) and a few very rare ones (magnicornis & erythrostoma). The key pulls out…
In the keys to Gonia one of the couplets asks you to consider the shininess of the face but this can be a confusing thing…
For many years Linnaemya picta had been confused with rossica because early workers (e.g. Fonseca) hadn’t tried using the European keys. Since the ‘discovery’ of picta…
I always find this species-pair really difficult to split – even when you flip out the male genitalia. The cerci are actually quite distinctive but…
The prosternum can be quite a difficult feature to find on a tachinid – partly because many British workers, used to Belshaw’s key will never…
In my experience a lot of people have trouble with this genus because the traditional features used in keys are quite variable. In particular it…