Black fly with dangly bits ID please

Andestine · #1 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 06:36 AM

Hello

I arrived here a few days ago. I had a whole bunch of photos of insects and spiders that I couldn’t identify on my own. As a result of working through some of the threads here I’ve found a lot of answers, so a big thank you to everyone here who’s willing to help out amateurs like me.

I haven’t been able to go through all the threads, of course, and this is one fly(?) that still eludes me. I’m imagining that it’s very common and so distinctive that you’ll be able to ID it immediately. I’ve had no luck finding it. I’m not even sure it it’s a fly.

Very tame, plentiful, pretty much all black. Seen at the end of April mostly on the wing, but also landing on bushes on a sandy common by the sea. Around 1.5 cm long. Very noticeable long dangly bits when in flight (its legs?).

I know that identifying insects can be really tough, but can you recommend the best book to help out someone like me? (or point me to a thread that’s already covered this). I don’t like to ask unless I’ve tried hard to ID it myself, and would love to find a book that would help. Mine have lovely illustrations, but are very old and not very comprehensive.

Hoping you can help.

Please excuse the photos. It will be some time before I can afford to upgrade from my beloved Fujifilm Finepix F(n)’s but I promise not to send in anything too awful

Cheers,

Andestine

Lance Morgan · #2 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 06:57 AM

Bibio Marci Hawthorn Fly

Andestine · #3 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance Morgan

Bibio Marci Hawthorn Fly

Blimey. That was fast! Thank you very much.

Andestine

loripo · #4 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 07:21 AM

If you Google 'St Marks fly' there is loads about your fly with dangly bits. I saw them first on St Marks day and was curious about what looked like stabilisers below the wings - found out that they were called halteres and did just that

Also bagged some with my Fuji Finepix!

Andestine · #5 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 08:03 AM

I googled it just as soon as Lance was kind enough to supply me with an ID, but you beat me to it with the halteres, so a big thank you

I saw those flies on 29th March, so it really does live up to one of its names.

Looks like mine was a male. Hope I'm right.

There was a whole bunch of stuff about fly fishing too. It was interesting to see that the fish don't need absolute accuracy in order to be fooled. I don't know much about that, but I'm thinking there's some fascinating stuff to be learned about perception in fish from the art of tying flies. Wonder how good their vision is through water?

Glad to see you're a Fuji Finepix fan. They're the best I've found for macro work on a tight budget.

Andestine

tigger · #6 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 06:38 PM

Agree on the Fuji Finepix... I'm on my second one now. Love it.

Andestine. For books I use Collins Complete British Insects (cos I love the photos). Pretty general but still a good book in my opinion.

Also Collins Field Guide on Insects. Very good - but obviously still doesn't cover everything.

Usually manage to get an idea what family something might belong to if I look in these two - then I usually turn to WAB experts for help!

Hope this helps. Jane

ChrisR · #7 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 11:14 PM

Nice photos - and certainly a male Bibio marci (males have big eyes, females have small eyes and are generally stockier)

There are other species of Bibio but this is the commonest and largest species that you are likely. Smaller ones are most likely to either be one of the other Bibio spp. or a Diplophus sp.

Just a word of caution about the Collins Guides ... they are very good books but they do just show a few species in each group. It's not that they don't show everything ... they actually show a minute percentage of the things you could see in the countryside. There are about 7000 species of fly in the UK alone but, saying that, it is surprising how often what you see really is the one figured in the Collins Guide

Gerel · #8 (**permalink**) 01-10-2009, 11:58 PM

Just for comparison, this is probably the 2nd most commonly noticed Bibionid after B. marci, the Heather fly (B. pomonae), again this is a male, the most obvious difference is the red legs (I first thought this might be a Dioctra sp. robber fly because of the legs

)

incidently "flies" based on both these species are used for fishing.

Steve

Andestine · #9 (**permalink**) 02-10-2009, 10:28 AM

Hello Jane

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigger

Agree on the Fuji Finepix... I'm on my second one now. Love it.

Think we should all start up a Fuji Finepix club with Loripo ?

Quote:

Andestine. For books I use Collins Complete British Insects (cos I love the photos). Pretty general but still a good book in my opinion.

Also Collins Field Guide on Insects. Very good - but obviously still doesn't cover everything.
Usually manage to get an idea what family something might belong to if I look in these two - then I usually turn to WAB experts for help!

Many thanks. I’ll order both. They do seem to be the best around. I have the Collins bird guide and am saving up for the one on spiders so I might as well get a set

I’ll do as you do – look things up first, and come to WAB when I’m at the point of tearing my hair out

(I’ve bookmarked your website to enjoy at leisure when things are less hectic around home )

Cheers,

Andestine

Andestine · #10 (**permalink**) 02-10-2009, 10:40 AM

Hello Chris,

I see you're new here like me

(Though obviously not new to entomology).

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisR

Nice photos - and certainly a male Bibio marci (males have big eyes, females have small eyes and are generally stockier)

Thanks. Next spring I’ll be back there trying to take a shot of a female. Stockier eh? It will help me remember the gender, but males with big eyes sounds about right

Quote:

There are other species of Bibio but this is the commonest and largest species that you are likely. Smaller ones are most likely to either be one of the other Bibio spp. or a Diplophus sp.

Thank you very much. Every bit of info gleaned from this forum gets saved for future reference

Quote:

Just a word of caution about the Collins Guides ... they are very good books but they do just show a few species in each group. It's not that they don't show everything ... they actually show a minute percentage of the things you could see in the countryside. There are about 7000 species of fly in the UK alone but, saying that, it is surprising how often what you see really is the one figured in the Collins Guide

As a complete amateur I’ll definitely be starting off with the Collins guides.
The only problem I have with the books I have (and most insect guide books) is that there are so many moths and butterflies compared with other insects. I admit I have a passion for moths, but in recent years I’ve become fascinated by other things like beetles, bugs, and flies in particular. Is there any illustrated book you could recommend that would help a beginner to identify flies? (I confess I have to stop short of killing them to get an ID, which limits things somewhat, but my main interest in getting a name is to be able to discover what I can about their behaviour).

I enjoyed myself this morning looking at your website on tachnid flies. They really are fascinating creatures (I'm not squeamish, having attended post mortems in my past

). In my ignorance I thought that only certain wasps that behaved that way. It’s always good to learn something new

Having seen your site I now know that I have unidentified photos of tachnid flies in my files, so I'll be calling on your expertise again.

Thanks again,

Andestine