Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Dalgety Bay - Emmesomyia grisea, new to Scotland (probably)

So I finally took a spade to the beach last night to dig up some lugworms. New species are proving a slog at the moment. Birds aren't playing ball though the flies and fungi are sort of ticking along. Two easy ones yesterday though (in ID terms - digging sand is still work!). However the third from yesterday was more interesting.

I decided the other night to give the proper respect to an anthomyiid that I netted at the weekend. Very happy I did too as it's the most northerly record for the species and more than likely new to Scotland - Emmesomyia grisea. As I've been making progress with calypterates it's been bugging me that I've sort of ignored the Anthomyiidae as difficult. Don't get me wrong - they ARE difficult, but they are getting easier. The difficulty lies in their similarity and the consequent nuances of setae organisation (and naming!) that you have to understand to work the keys. Females are still off the list, for the moment at least.





Additions:
957 Helophilus pendulus A hoverfly
958 Arenicola marina Blow Lugworm
959 Emmesomyia grisea An anthomyid fly

2 comments:

  1. Well done with the Anthomyid. I struggle with these too. I have more success with genitalia comparison than keying out with this group. Great idea with the spade. I'm hoping I won't need mine just yet..

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    1. I think Seth did it back in January! I always had in mind to make sure the lugworms were included. Haven't looked at any marine stuff for ages

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