Andrena ventralis (Red-vented Sallow Mining Bee)
14 photos
A medium-sized mining bee (about the size of Andrena dorsata). Females are easily recognised by the almost entirely red underside to the abdomen (including the sides of the tergites) coupled by...
Argyra diaphana
12 photos
Argyra leucocephala
9 photos
Dolichopus diadema
1 photo
Dolichopus maculipennis
4 photos
Dolichopus ungulatus
2 photos
Liancalus virens
5 photos
Machaerium maritimae
2 photos
Poecilobothrus nobilitatus
15 photos
Poecilobothrus principalis
2 photos
Rhaphium longicorne
3 photos
Scellus notatus
4 photos
Aphrosylus celtiber
9 photos
Empis borealis (Brown-winged Dance Fly)
28 photos
A fairly large (body length 5.5-8 mm), dark-looking dance fly, with dark brown wings and a hairy face. Females are instantly recogniseable due to the markedly broadened wings. Males have the legs...
Empis digramma (Two-striped Xanthempis)
5 photos
Readily distinguished from other dance flies by the orange or pinkish body with a broad dark median stripe on the thoracic dorsum flanked by two blackish stripes aligned with the dorsocentrals. The...
Empis femorata (Boat-tailed Dance Fly)
12 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5.5-6.5 mm), grey-dusted, rather stocky dance fly with three rather weak dark stripes on the top of the thorax aligned with the bristle rows. Both sexes have swollen hind...
Empis grisea (Griseous Dance-fly)
1 photo
A medium-sized (body length 4-6 mm), greyish dance fly with the prothoracic sternum only hairy at the sides in contrast to similar-sized species such as E. femorata (female), E. picipes and E. tumida...
Empis livida (Tan Dance Fly)
11 photos
A fairly large dance fly (body length to 10 mm) with a tan dusted body and a particularly long proboscis (nearly four times the height of the head). There are three dark stripes on the thorax and...
Empis lucida (Black Highland Dance Fly)
17 photos
One of two very similar, medium-sised, shiny black Empis species of upland and mountainous districts. It varies from the other (E. verralli) by the larger size (body length to 9 mm), presence of...
Empis opaca (Dark-kneed Empis)
4 photos
A fairly large dance fly (body length to 10 mm) resembling the red-legged form of E. tessellata or E. livida but with four rather than three dark stripes on the top of the thorax thorax, these...
Empis stercorea (Single-striped Xanthempis)
2 photos
One of two medium-sized (body length to 9 mm) orange 'Xanthempis' species with a single dark stripe on the top of the thorax. Separable from the other (X. aemula) using male genitalia plus the the...
Empis tessellata (Tessellated Dance Fly)
24 photos
Britain's largest dance flies (body length to 12 mm), a brownish-grey dusted, gangley fly with three dark stripes on the thorax and yellowish wing bases. Most have the femora extensively darkened but...
Empis trigramma (Three-striped Xanthempis)
3 photos
One of several 'Xanthempis' species with the top of the thorax substantially darkened, but the only one with three dark stripes separated by reddish interstices. The reddish stripes are occasionally...
Empis verralli (Verrall's Highland Dance Fly)
10 photos
A medium-sized, shiny black Empis that was described new to science by J. E. Collin based on Welsh and English material. It is one of a pair of similar species (subgenus Anacrostichus) but can be...
Rhamphomyia pilifer (Tooth-legged Rhamphomyia)
1 photo
A medium-sized, grey-dusted and dark-legged Rhamphomyia with males that are readily recognised through the form of the genitalia and hind legs.
R. pilifer is a widespread and frequent in and around...
Chirosia similata
3 photos
Alliopsis atronitens
3 photos
Alliopsis billbergi (Billberg's Alliopsis)
2 photos
Alliopsis silvestris
4 photos
Anthomyia pluvialis (Split-spot Anthomyia)
1 photo
One of five boldly grey and black patterned British Anthomyia species but the only one with five black patches on top of the thorax behind the thoracic suture due to the lateral spots of species such...
Anthomyia procellaris (Big-spot Anthomyia)...
7 photos
One of three boldly grey and black-patterned British Anthomyia species with three black patches on top of the thorax behind the thoracic suture. Only separable from A. bazini by checking the...
Botanophila fugax
16 photos
Calythea nigricans
1 photo
Chiastocheta species
3 photos
Chirosia flavipennis
2 photos
Delia platura (Bean Seed Fly)
3 photos
Delia radicum (Cabbage Roof Fly)
12 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5-8 mm), slimly built, dark grey anthomyiid with three broad but ill-defined dark stripes on the thorax and prealar bristles that are much longer then the notopleurals,...
Egle ciliata (Large Pussy-willow Fly)
11 photos
Emmesomyia socia
2 photos
Eustalomyia festiva (Subplumose Log Fly)
6 photos
One of three black legged Eustalomyia’s but the only one with subplumose aristae (hairs about half the width of a third antennal segment. Most similar in size (body length 6-11 mm) and appearance...
Eustalomyia hilaris (Long-rayed Log Fly)
6 photos
A relatively small Eustalomyia (body length 5-8 mm), readily distinguished from other three black-legged species by the long-plumose antennal aristae, with the longest hairs equal in length to the...
Eustalomyia histrio (Pubescent Log Fly)
8 photos
One of three black-legged Eustalomyia’s but the only one with a short-pubescent arista (hairs no longer than the basal width of the arista). Most similar in size and appearance to E. festiva (body...
Eustalomyia vittipes (Orange-legged Log Fly)
2 photos
Readily distinguished from the other three Eustalomyia species by the orange palps and mostly orange-red legs.
E. vittipes is scarce in the southern half of It is presumed to be a cleptoparasite of...
Eutrichora praepotens
7 photos
Fucellia fucorum (Dark-legged Strandline Fly)
6 photos
The only Fucellia with entirely dark legs (at most the bases of the tibiae are obscurely pale), and a relatively short and wide mentum. The palps are entirely dark, short and swollen (longer, slimmer...
Fucellia tergina (Narrow-jowled Strandline Fly)
3 photos
One of two Fucellia species with the tibiae usually extensively brownish (at least basally), rather long and narrow, partially pale palps, and the mentum relatively long and narrow. Best...
Hydrophoria lancifer
11 photos
Hydrophoria linogrisea
3 photos
Hydrophoria ruralis
2 photos
Hylemya nigrimana (Yellow-thighed Hylemya)
8 photos
The largest British Hylemya with a body length that regularly attains 9 mm. Males are readily distinguished by the yellow mid and hind femora (yellow tibiae too) and have a paler, greyer body than...
Hylemya vagans (Black-thighed Hylemya)
12 photos
The second largest Hylemya (body length up to 8.5 mm). Males are readily distinguished from the other species by the combination of black femora and mostly yellow or brownish tibiae (with tips...
Hylemya variata (Long-claspered Hylemya)
5 photos
One of two relatively small Hylemya species (body length 4-7 mm) with fully dark legs, at least in males. Males can easily be distinguished from those of H. variata by checking the male genitalia...
Hylemyza partita
3 photos
Leucophora obtusa
8 photos
Leucophora personata
1 photo
Mycophaga testacea (Plumose Mycophage)
7 photos
A medium-sized anthomyiid (body length 5-9 mm) that is readily distinguishable by the combination of plumose aristae, grey thorax with a yellowish scutellum rim (and sometimes humeri), orange...
Paradelia intersecta
5 photos
Paregle audacula
2 photos
Pegomya rubivora
3 photos
Pegomya geniculata
3 photos
Pegoplata aestiva
6 photos
Pegoplata annulata
5 photos
Zaphne ambigua
1 photo
Zaphne divisa
7 photos
Zaphne nuda
1 photo
Siphona tristella (Grantown Short-tongue)
3 photos
One of five short-tongued Siphona’s. The thorax has four pairs of postsutural dorsocentrals like S. lichtwardtiana and S. tenuipalpis and the abdomen lacks the large orange side markings found in...
Siphona tenuipalpis (Plain Short-tongue)
4 photos
One of five short-tongued Siphona’s. The thorax has four pairs of postsutural dorsocentrals like S. lichtwardtiana and S. tristella but the length of the haustellum is about two-thirds the minimum...
Siphona female indet (Crymlyn)
19 photos
One of several female I have from assorted locations with a size and build like geniculata but with the third antennal segment extensively orange at the base. They have four postsutural dorsocentrals...
Siphona collini (Collin’s Siphona)
26 photos
(based largely on a male from Stanground, Cambs). A very small Siphona (body length about 3 mm). The combination of small size, dark males, only three pairs of postsutural dorsocentrals, lack of...
Siphona male indet Oxwich
14 photos
Possiblya Siphona variata male with an unusually dark abdomen.
Siphona indet male - Bishops Bowl
24 photos
A male with the size, build and chaetotaxy of S. geniiculata but the abdomen is very extensively yellow with a long dark median stripe. I have similar males from many sites, some without median...
Siphona verralli (Verrall’s Short-tongue)
5 photos
One of five short tongued Siphona’s in Britain. Separable from the others (S. abdominalis, S. lichtwardtiana, S. tenuipalpis and S. tristella) by the normal sized rather than small and filiform...
Tenthredo marginella
10 photos
Clemelis pullata
33 photos
A medium-small (body length 4.8-7 mm), hairy-eyed, heavily dusted tachinid with a reddish tip to the scutellum and yellowish wing bases (resembling a densely dusted Phrxye). The facial ridges have...
Labigastera forcipata (Boat Bug Parasite Fly)
39 photos
A medium-small (6-9 mm CHECK), bare eyed, rather bristly dark tachinid with light dusting. The facial ridges have setae confined to the lower quarter. The parafacialia are bare below the descending...
Frontina laeta (Eyed Hawkmoth Parasite Fly)
42 photos
A medium-sized (body length 9-11 mm), bare-eyed, densely buff-dusted tachinid with several strong bristles on the facial ridges, a mostly orange ground colour to the abdomen and pale hairs on the...
Leskia aurea (Golden Parasite Fly)
38 photos
Resembling a large (body length 7.5-9.5 mm), golden-dusted Solieria with the ground colour of the frons, face, humeri, scutellum, tergites and coxae yellowish. It also varies from Solieria in having...
Zenillia libatrix (True Zenillia)
26 photos
A medium-small (body length 6-8.5 mm), hairy eyed, densely cinereous dusted tachinid with yellowish wing bases and mostly dark legs. The facial ridges have setae rising about halfway up. The...
Peleteria iavana (Narrow-cheeked Peleteria)
4 photos
Closely resembling P. rubescens on the field (with similar reddish abdominal markings) but it has the second antennal segment reddish, much narrower parafacialia (about half the width of an eye) and...
Peleteria rubescens (Broad-cheeked Peleteria)
39 photos
A large tachinid (body length 9-14 mm) that closely resembles Tachina fera and T. magnicornis but varies in the following ways: the antennae are almost completely dark, the parafacialia are much...
Catharosia albisquama (White-flapped Catharosia)
6 photos
A really tiny tachinid (about 2 mm long) that resembles C. pygmaea but lacks milky spots at the wing tips (though the costal area is darkened) and has whitish lower calypters (dark grey in C....
Litophasia hyalipennis
1 photo
A small (body length 4.5-5 mm) black, rather flattened phasiine that resembles a large, robust, big headed male Catharosia pygmaea but with clear wings. The venation is very similar too, with a...
Actia crassicornis (Under-bristled Actia)
44 photos
A small (body length 4-5.5 mm) bare-eyed, dark-bodied tachinid with numerous setae on the upper surface of the wings and also several underneath the final section of R1 (unique to this species). The...
Actia infantula (Bare-veined Actia)
37 photos
Readily distinguished from all other British Actia species by the lack of setae along vein Cu. The female antennae have the first two segments and the basal half of the third segment, on both faces,...
Actia pilipennis (Pale-horned Actia)
42 photos
Very similar to A. crassicornis but differing in the following respects: the final section of vein R1 usually lacks setae ventrally, the female third antennal segments are usually reddish for about...
Siphona variata (Dune Siphona)
63 photos
A medium-sized Siphona (body length typically 4 mm) with the head about 1.5 times higher than long, vibrissae inserted below a level formed by the bottom of the eye (a feature only shown by a few...
Siphona setosa (Bristly-palped Siphona)
33 photos
A medium to largish Siphona (body length 4.5-5.5 mm) with particularly long marginal bristles on the tergites, very bristly palps and long male antennae. The male head in side view is about 1.5 times...
Siphona pauciseta (Eastern Siphona)
73 photos
A relatively small and slim Siphona (body length 3-3.5 mm). with the head viewed from the side 1.5 times (male) or 1.25 (female) higher than long. The parafacialia are narrower than the width of a...
Siphona maculata (Maculated Siphona)
46 photos
A relatively small Siphona (body length 3-4.0 mm), readily recognised from other Siphona species (except S. ingerae) by the combination of three postsutural dorsocentrals, a haustellum that is about...
Siphona ingerae (Dark-knobbed Siphona)
29 photos
A medium- large (body length 4.5-5 mm), long winged and leggy Siphona, sharing with S. maculata the presence of three broad brown vittae on the thoracic dorsum, three pairs of postsutural...
Siphona hokkaidensis (Hokkaido Siphona)
3 photos
This species has the following characteristics. Body length 3.5-4.5 mm. Dusting of head and thorax rather yellowish. Head about 1.5 times as high as long in male, but only about 1.25 in females Male...
Siphona geniculata (Common Siphona)
60 photos
Typically, a medium to large, fairly robust Siphona (body length up to 5.5 mm but can be as short as 3 mm) best identified using a combination of head and antennal proportions plus chaetotaxy but...
Siphona flavifrons (Yellow-bellied Siphona)
3 photos
A medium-sized Siphona (body length 4.5 mm) usually with the abdomen extensively subshining yellow. The antennae have the first two segments conspicuously yellow-orange. The third segment of males is...
Siphona cristata (Golden-fronted Siphona)
77 photos
A medium-large Siphona (body length 4-5.5 mm). The parafacialia are at least as wide as the width of a palp, with an average of six small setulae at the top below the descending frontals (usually...
Siphona confusa (Mesnil’s Siphona)
3 photos
Similar to S. variata, sharing with this species vibrissae being inserted below a level formed by the bottom of the eyes. It can apparently be distinguished by its darker basal antennal segments,...
Siphona boreata (Dark-kneed Siphona)
3 photos
This species has the following characteristics. Body length 4-5 mm. Haustellum longer than the head height. Tergite 1+2 with strong laterals but no median marginals. Tergite 3 with 4 marginals....
Phytomyptera zonella (Bristly-shinned...
3 photos
P. zonella can be distinguished from P. cingulata and P. minutissima by the possession of 3 (as opposed to 2) dorsal apical spurs on the hind tibiae, 3 pairs (as opposed to 2) of presutural...
Phytomyptera nigrina (Short-veined Phytomyptera)
39 photos
Readily distinguishable from the other Phytomyptera species, indeed all other British tachinids, by the absence of cross-vein m-cu combined with the truncated vein M, which finishes some distance...
Phytomyptera minutissima (Unequal sectored...
3 photos
Resembling P. cingulata but the distance of M between cross-vein m-cu and the upcurve is 1.5 - 2.0x as long as that between cross-veins r-m and m-cu (as opposed to 0.8 and 1.3 in cingulata), the...
Phytomyptera cingulata (Equal-sectored...
38 photos
A small (body length 3-4.5 mm), bare-eyed, dark-legged tachinid. The facial ridges are bare except for 2-5 setae just above the vibrissae. The parafacialia are bare below the descending frontals and...
Gymnosoma clavatum
4 photos
Added to the UK list from the Channel Islands.
Anthomyiopsis plagioderae
4 photos
Anthomyiopsis nigrisquamata
4 photos
Bithia demotica
4 photos
Bithia demotica (Portland Bithia)
Discovered in Britain by Ivan Perry from the Isle of Portland in 2006. It resembles B. spreta but vein R4+5 has bristles not extending beyond cross vein r-m, and it...
Neaeria laticornis (Milky-winged Parasite Fly)
43 photos
A small (body length 5-7 mm), bare-eyed, densely pale grey dusted tachinid with milky-white wings and dark legs. The facial ridges have setae confined to the lower third. The parafacialia are half or...
Siphona lichtwardtiana (Lichtwardt’s...
4 photos
A short-tongued Siphona resembling S. abdominalis,with similar abdominal markings but with four rather than three pairs of postsutural dorsocentrals, a more distinct dark median stripe on the...
Siphona abdominalis (Short-tongued Siphona)
43 photos
A medium-sized Siphona (body length 3-4.5 mm), usually with a strongly patterned abdomen with orange side patches basally. One of five short-tongued Siphona’s. The parafacialia typically have 3-5...
Phaonia aeneiventris (Aeneous Bristleshin)
27 photos
Possible third British (and first Scottish) specimen but requires confirmation.
Phaonia amicula
24 photos
Possible first British specimen (Warwickshire). Requires confirmation.
Neaeria latipennis (Milky-winged Parasite Fly)
39 photos
Platymya fimbriata
42 photos
A medium-small (body length 5-7.5 mm), stockily built, hairy-eyed, black-legged tachinid with grey dusting on a dark body. Not easily distinguished from other similar-looking, hairy-eyed tachinids in...
Erycia furibunda (Marsh Fritillary Parasite Fly)
33 photos
A medium-sized (body length 7-9 mm), bare-eyed, dark-legged, robustly built tachinid with a densely grey-dusted body and a partially orange scutellum. The facial ridges have setae confined to the...
Meigenia mutabilis large form
41 photos
There are two forms with few intermediates. The smaller form (body length 3-5 mm) is darker in both sexes and males have a pair of large spots on tergites 3 and 4 which usually coalesce with the...
Solieria inanis (Narrow-fronted Solieria)
3 photos
Males resemble those of S. pacifica and S. fenestrata but the tarsal claws (and also the pulvilli if not shrivelled) are longer than the last tarsal segment. The front femora are usually entirely...
Solieria fenestrata (Dark-palped Solieria)
74 photos
Closely resembling S. pacifica but the male frons is about one-quarter the head width (clearly narrower than an eye), the tarsal claws are slightly longer (about as long as the last tarsal segment),...
Solieria vacua (Dark-tailed Solieria)
21 photos
Males resemble those of other Solieria species but have the combination of a frons that is about one-third the width of the head (wider than in S. fenestrata but narrower than in S. pacifica) and...
Gymnocheta lucida (Blunt-winged Green Parasite...
36 photos
A metallic tachinid closely resembling G. viridis but with a broader male frons (about one-quarter the width of the head), blunter wings (with cell R4+5 less drawn out apically) and differences in...
Macquartia viridana (Brassy Macquartia)
45 photos
Males average as our largest Macquartia’s (body length to 11 mm) and are also readily distinguishable from other males by the entirely orange femora and tibiae. The thoracic dorsum has three broad,...
Macquartia tessellans (Tessellated Macquartia)
21 photos
A medium-sized (body length of featured specimen 8 mm), rather robust, pale grey-dusted Macquartia with a conspicuous pattern of shifting tessellations on the tergites. It is one of only two British...
Macquartia tenebricosa (Dark-legged Macquartia)
45 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5-9 mm), dark grey, lightly dusted Macquartia, one of three species with the combination of lower calypters that run alongside (rather than diverging from) the sides of...
Macquartia pubiceps (bare-faced Macquartia)
40 photos
A rather small, shining black Macquartia (body length 5-7.5 mm) with very little dusting on the abdomen or hind section of the thoracic dorsum but paler dusting at the front of the thorax where there...
Macquartia nudigena (Spiny-winged Macquartia)
27 photos
A relatively small (body length 5-7 mm), dark grey Macquartia with a particularly long costal spine on each wing and long dorsal setae on the node of R4+5. The parafacialia are bare. The palps vary...
Macquartia grisea (Long-legged Macquartia)
48 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5.5-8 mm), rather slim and noticeably long-legged Macquartia. The parafacialia are hairy on the upper half only and the palps blackish. The male eyes are separated by...
Hydrotaea velutina
3 photos
Hydrotaea tuberculata
3 photos
Hydrotaea similis
3 photos
Hydrotaea pilitibia
3 photos
Hydrotaea pilipes
3 photos
Hydrotaea parva
3 photos
Hydrotaea pandellei
3 photos
Hydrotaea palaestrica
3 photos
Hydrotaea nidicola
3 photos
Hydrotaea militaris
3 photos
Hydrotaea meteorica
3 photos
Hydrotaea meridionalis
3 photos
Hydrotaea irritans
4 photos
Hydrotaea ignava
3 photos
Hydrotaea glabricula
3 photos
Hydrotaea floccosa
3 photos
Hydrotaea diabolus
3 photos
Hydrotaea dentipes
3 photos
Hydrotaea cyrtoneurina
3 photos
Hydrotaea cinerea
3 photos
Hydrotaea capensis
3 photos
Hydrotaea borussica
3 photos
Hydrotaea basdeni
3 photos
Hydrotaea armipes
3 photos
Hydrotaea albipuncta
3 photos
Hydrotaea aenescens
3 photos
Myathropa dark form
3 photos
Possibly a separate species.Flies alongside normal-looking florea.
Schizotus pectinicornis (Scarce Cardinal Beetle)
7 photos
A relatively small pyrochroid (7-9 mm long) usually with a black patch on the pronotal disc. Males have highly pectinate antennae (far more so than a Pyrochroa species) but this is less extreme in...
Liorhyssus hyalinus
4 photos
A 6.5-7.5 mm long rhopalid resembling a Rhopalum or Stictopleuron species but with the clear tip of the wings projecting far beyond the tip of the abdomen. The colour of the head, thorax and wing's...
Reduvius personatus (Masked Hunter)
3 photos
Britain's largest assassin bug (body length typically 16-18 mm). It is a dark, rather flattened bug covered with stuff upright hairs that pick up dust. Nymphs exude a sticky substance that can pick...
Eumerus amoenus
18 photos
Cylindromyia bicolor (Red-tipped Tube-tail)
26 photos
A very large Cylindromyia, the largest individuals with a body length of 15 mm or more. Readily distinguished from other Cylindromyia species by the deep red abdomen that lacks a black tip. A...
Suillia pallida
13 photos
Geotrupes stercorarius (Common Dor Beetle)
5 photos
A largish dor beetle with seven striae on the elytra between the suture and the shoulder bulge. Punctures are confined to the sides of the pronotum. Very similar to G. spiniger but with a more even...
Andrena afzeliella (Kirby's Mining Bee)
11 photos
A species closely resembling Andrena ovatula but the terminal fringe of the female abdomen and basitibial plate of the hind tibiae are light, from greyish to yellowish-white or orange, never dark...
Aphria longirostris (Long-tongued Aphria)
22 photos
A medium-small (body length 6.5-8.5 mm), slim, bare-eyed tachinid with red side patches on the abdomen, that resembles the common Eriothrix rufomaculata or Bithia spreta but can be distinguished by...
Hebia flavipes
21 photos
(Orange-legged Hebia)
A small (body length 4.7-6.7 mm), pale grey-dusted, bare-eyed, slim tachinid with orange legs and female antennae, and reddish frontal vitta. The third antennal segments are...
Myxexoristops blondeli
4 photos
Closely resembling M. stolida but with the pair of outer vittae of the thorax somewhat longer, the male scutellum without a reddish tip, and the tip of the male cercus rounded rather than...
Bithia modesta (Orange-palped Bithia)
19 photos
Resembling the common B. spreta but averaging larger (to 11 mm) and more robust (akin to a medium-sized Sarcophaga species), with no dorsal bristles on wing vein R1, bristles on R4+5 confined to the...
Erynnia ocypterata (False Plume Moth Parasite Fly)
37 photos
A small (body length 4-4.5 mm), shiny-black, bare eyed tachinid that closely resembles Ligeria angusticornis but varies in lots of details including the dorsal excavation of tergite 1+2 extending to...
Demoticus plebejus (Downland Demoticus)
37 photos
A medium-small (body length 7-10 mm), slim, strongly dusted tachinid resembling a Bithia species but with partially orange tibiae. The antennae are typically dark in males but the first two segments...
Mintho rufiventris (Compressed Parasite Fly)
49 photos
A medium-small (body length 7-9 mm), slim, long-legged, bare-eyed tachinid with a laterally compressed abdomen (higher than broad) bearing lateral red patches, and a grey-dusted thoracic dorsum with...
Peribaea setinervis (Fork-horned Parasite Fly)
19 photos
A tiny (body length 3.5-4.5 mm), bare-eyed tachinid closely allied to Actia but lacking any dorsal bristles on wing vein R1 dorsally, and with males that are instantly recognisable by the deeply...
Goniocera versicolor (Lackey parasite Fly)
27 photos
A small (body length 4.5-6 mm), heavily dusted Siphona-like tachinid but with short mouthparts and discals on tergites 3 and 4. The facial ridges are bare except just above the vibrissae and the...
Entomophaga sufferta
4 photos
Resembling E. nigrohalterata but with a shorter third antennal segment and differences in the terminalia of both sexes (see www.researchgate.net/publication/232665026_Review_of_Gene...).
E. suffurta...
Entomophaga nigrohalterata (Ypsolopha Parasite...
20 photos
A small (body length 3-4.5 mm), bare-eyed, grey-dusted, reddish-legged, Siphona-like tachinid with a ‘zig-zag’ arista very reminiscent of the unrelated tachinid Triarthria setipennis (which has...
Entomophaga exoleta
4 photos
Differs from E. nigrohalterata in being larger (body length 6 mm) and in many other details. The parafacialia are about three times as wide as an arista with 10-15 hairs on the upper part. The...
Actia resinellae (Pine Actia)
24 photos
Resembling A. crassicornis and A. pilipennis (and with dorsal setae along much of R4+5 and Cu) but with the dorsal setae of vein R1 densely packed in the final third of the vein, leaving the basal...
Actia maksymovi (Maksymov’s Actia)
4 photos
Closely resembling A. resinellae is having the dorsal setae of vein R1 confined to the apical third (combined with setae on vein Cu) but differs in having dark palps, much darker antennae (with at...
Actia lamia (Short-veined Actia)
38 photos
Readily distinguished from all other Actia species (and all British tachinids except Phytomyptera nigrina and most Ocytata pallipes) by the truncated vein M, which stops at roughly the point where it...
Ceromya silacea (Orange Ceromya)
4 photos
An unmistakable, orange-bodied tachinid that looks like a small, Siphona-shaped Phaonia pallida (Muscidae). The body length is 5 mm. There are some good images on the internet.
C. silacea is only...
Actia crassicornis
4 photos
Ceromya silacea
4 photos
Ceromya monstrosicornis (Bristly-cheeked Ceromya)
4 photos
A small (size?) tachinid, the only siphonine with entirely setulose parafacialia. The body is greyish with three broad brownish vittae on the thorax and brown hind margins to the tergites. The tip of...
Ceromya flaviseta (Yellow-edged Ceromya)
4 photos
A small siphonine that runs to Aphantorhaphospsis verralli in the key to Actia and related genera in Belshaw (1993). However, tergite 1+2-4 have a narrow yellow hind margin, vein R1 has hairs on the...
Ceromya bicolor (Orange-bellied Ceromya)
43 photos
A small (body length 4.5-6.5 mm) tachinid that resembles a Siphona species but with an orange abdomen, grey thorax and short mouthparts. The facial ridges are bare except just above the vibrissae....
Triarthria setipennis (Wobbly-horned Parasite Fly)
40 photos
A small (body length 4.5-6 mm), bare-eyed, dark legged, grey dusted tachinid with very distinctive antennal aristae. The facial ridges are bare except immediately above the vibrissae. The...
Winthemia variegata (Dark-tailed Winthemia)
10 photos
Resembling W. quadripustulata but the apex of the abdomen lacks red markings, the occiput has an irregular row of black bristles behind the occipital row, the tergite hairs are longer, more upright...
Winthemia cruentata (Privet Hawk Winthemia)
4 photos
Resembling W. quadripustulata but the dark vittae at the front of the thorax are narrower – those of the male not more than one-quarter the width of the intervening space, those of the female not...
Winthemia quadripustulata (Red-tailed Winthemia)
43 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6.5-10 mm), broadly-built, hairy-eyed, grey-dusted tachinid with a red apex to the abdomen, hairy parafacialia and only white hairs behind the postocular row. The antennae...
Smidtia conspersa (Long-haired Smidtia)
68 photos
A medium-sized (6-9 mm), rather hairy as well as bristly, grey dusted tachinid with densely hairy eyes, and hairy parafacialia. The third antennal segment (which is about 2.5 times as long as wide)...
Thelymorpha marmorata (Marmorated (Parasite Fly)
33 photos
A medium-small (body length 6-8.5 mm), bare-eyed, strongly grey-patterned, very broad headed tachinid with a row of strong bristles over the greater part of the facial ridges and a very broad frons...
Smidtia amoena (Fringe-shinned Smidtia)
38 photos
A medium-sized (9-11 mm), rather hairy as well as bristly, grey dusted tachinid with densely hairy eyes, rather narrow, hairy parafacialia and an anterodorsal fringe of bristles on the hind tibiae....
Vibrissina debilitata (Bristle-bellied Parasite...
37 photos
A small (body length 4.5-7 mm), bare-eyed, grey-dusted tachinid, the females with a characteristic saw-like row of bristles arising from the sternites on the underside of the abdomen (as also seen in...
Exorista grandis (Hairy-eyed Exorista)
43 photos
A large Exorista (body length 9-14 mm) with four pairs of postsutural dorsocentrals and a largely reddish scutellum (as in E. fasciata and E. larvarum) but with densely hairy eyes (the only British...
Botria subalpina (Northern Botria)
46 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6-8 mm), robustly built, heavily dusted tachinid with hairy eyes. The parafacialia are bare except at the top and about as wide as a third antennal segment. The facial...
Phorocera obscura (Dark-saddled Phorocera)
46 photos
Resembling a small version of P. assimilis (body length 4-11 mm) but with the dorsal excavation of tergite 1+2 finishing well short of the hind margin, and the scutellum is more often entirely dark....
Bessa selecta (Sawfly Bessa)
42 photos
A small (body length 3.5-6.5 mm), dumpy, bare-eyed, nondescript tachinid with grey markings on a dark body (much as in assorted other tachinid genera). However, the combination of bristles along the...
Bessa parallela (Micro Bessa)
5 photos
Virtually identical to B. selecta but tergite 3 without, and tergite 4 almost always without, discal bristles. Seemingly much rarer than B. selecta with record in southern England and the Midlands....
Prooppia stulta
4 photos
Xylotachina diluta (Goat Moth Parasite Fly)
30 photos
A medium-sized body length 6-9 mm), bare eyed, dark-legged tachinid with a rather strong pattern of grey dusting on a dark body. The facial ridges have setae confined to the lower third. The...
Tlephusa cincinna (Four-bristled Pseudophryxe)
31 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6.5-9 mm), hairy-eyed, thinly dusted tachinid that resembles a rather flat and shiny Phryxe but differs in assorted details. The facial ridges have setae confined to the...
Senometopia intermedia
5 photos
Resembling S. pollinosa but averaging smaller (body length 5-6 mm) with more extensive lateral black vittae on the thorax, these extending backwards level to the most posterior dorsocentral. The...
Senometopia excisa
4 photos
Resembling S. pollinosa and S. intermedia but without discals on tergite 4, just a covering of uniformly short hairs here. Like S, intermedia, the front tibiae only have a single strong posterior...
Pseudoperichaeta nigrolineata
42 photos
A medium-small (body length 5-7 mm), hairy-eyed, stockily built, black-legged tachinid with grey dusting. Not easily distinguished in the field from various other similar-sized eryciine and goniine...
Phryxe vulgaris (Common Phryxe)
54 photos
(Common Phryxe)
A medium-sized (body length 6-9 mm), hairy-eyed, grey-dusted tachinid with dark legs and a red-tipped scutellum. The facial ridges have setae acending about halfway up so that that...
Phryxe magnicornis (Small Phryxe)
53 photos
Closely resembling P. vulgaris, with the same narrow gap between the descending frontals and the ascending setae of the facial ridges but averaging smaller than the other British species (body length...
Phryxe heraclei (Broad-banded Phryxe)
80 photos
Closely resembling P. vulgaris, with the same narrow gap between the descending frontals and the ascending setae of the facial ridges. Best identified using male genitalia. The surstyli viewed from...
Phryxe erythrostoma (Long-clawed Phryxe)
20 photos
A large Phryxe (body length 8-11 mm) with longer tarsal claws than the other British species (claws longer than the last tarsal segment). The male genitalia broadly resemble those of P. vulgaris and...
Phebellia villica (Bristly-ridged Phebellia)
16 photos
One of two British Phebellia species with the facial ridges supposedly bearing setae on the lower third or more (not very obvious in the specimen shown here). It can be distinguished from the other...
Phebellia vicina (Strath Glas Phebellia)
4 photos
One of two British Phebellia species with the facial ridges bearing setae on the lower third or more. It can be distinguished from the other (P. villana) using the following features. The 3 strong...
Phebellia glirina (Short-winged Phebellia)
59 photos
Resembling P. glauca but the wings are shorter and blunter, with the gap between the ends of veins R2+3 and R4+5 on the costa shorter than the distance between the tip of R4+5 and the wing tip. The...
Phebellia glauca (Long-winged Phebellia)
78 photos
(Long-winged Phebellia)
A medium-sized (body length 8-10 mm), hairy-eyed, dark-legged tachinid, usually with the apex of the scutellum reddish, and resembling a rather large, long-winged, elongate...
Phebellia nigripalpis (Black-palped Phebellia)
4 photos
The only British Phebellia with entirely black palps. The scutellar apicals are oriented upwards at an angle of more than 45 degrees. The presutural intra-alars of males are missing or weak....
Lydella stabulans (Long-clawed Lydella)
53 photos
Similar in shape and size to L. grisescens but the dusting of tergites 3-5 is confined to the basal third creating a much darker appearance, and there is a broader interruption of dusting in the...
Lydella grisescens (Short-clawed Lydella)
51 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5.5-10 mm), bare-eyed, extensively grey dusted and rather robust tachinid. The facial ridges have setae confined to the bottom half. The parafacialia are bare below the...
Huebneria affinis (Tiger Moth Parasite Fly)
31 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5-9 mm), hairy-eyed, robustly built, black-legged eryciine tachinid with a partially reddish scutellum. Not easily distinguishable from other eryciines e.g. Phryxe and...
Carcelia tibialis (Small Carcelia)
50 photos
The smallest British Carcelia (body length rarely beyond 7.5 mm) with a less robust build and lighter body dusting than other species resulting in a darker, shinier appearance. The dark basicostae...
Carcelia rasa (Dense-haired Carcelia)
28 photos
One of two Carcelia species with the combination of yellow basicostae, a single anterodorsal on the mid tibiae, dark humeri and no discals on tergites 3 and 4. Separable form the other (C. puberula)...
Carcelia laxifrons (Browntail Carcelia)
57 photos
Together with C. lucorum, this is the only British Carcelia with the combination of well-formed discals on tergites 3 and 4, two or more strong anterodorsals on the mid tibiae and brown basicostae....
Carcelia iliaca (Processionary Moth Carcelia)
48 photos
The dark basicosta and lack of marginals on tergites 3 and 4 bring this species out with C. atricosta and C. gnava but it has a unique head shape that sets it apart from all the other Carcelia...
Carcelia gnava (Thick-styled Carcelia)
30 photos
One of three Carcelia species with the combination of dark basicostae and no discals on tergites 3 and 4. Separable from C. atricosta by having two or more anteroventral bristles on the mid tibiae...
Carcelia bombylans (Yellow-shouldered Carcelia)
26 photos
The only British Carcelia with the combination of yellow basicostae and yellow humeri. The size and build (including male and female frons widths) are similar to C. lucorum but the tibiae are...
Carcelia atricosta (Dark-based Carcelia)
51 photos
One of three Carcelia species with the combination of dark basicostae and no discals on tergites 3 and 4. Separable C. gnava by having only a single anteroventral bristle on the mid tibiae and more...
Cadurciella tritaeniata (Green Hairstreak...
29 photos
A small (body length 5-6.6 mm), hairy eyed, robustly built, heavily dusted tachinid with males that are much more lightly dusted than females. The facial ridges are bare except just above the...
Bactromyia aurulenta
25 photos
A medium-small (body length 3.5-6.5), bare-eyed, black-legged, grey-dusted eryciine that is not easily distinguished in the field. The facial ridges have setae confined to the lower quarter. The...
Aplomya confinis (Lycaenid Parasite Fly)
52 photos
A medium-small (body length 5.5-8 mm), robustly built eryciine with dark legs and densely hairy eyes that resembles a Phryxe or Zenillia but with only one strong anterodorsal on the mid tibiae...
Zaira cinerea (Grey Zaira)
45 photos
A small to medium-sized (body length 5.5-8.5 mm), heavily grey dusted, bare-eyed tachinid with four dark vittae on the thorax but only a poorly formed median vitta and weak shifting markings on the...
Policheta unicolor (Leaf Beetle Parasite Fly)
43 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6-8.5 mm), hairy-eyed, dumpy blackish tachinid with strong setae along almost the entire length of the facial ridges, a projecting mouth edge and a rather strongly...
Paracraspedothrix montivago (Montivago’s...
42 photos
A very small (body length 2.5-3 mm), lightly dusted, dark-legged tachinid that is not easily identified in the field. The facial ridges have 1-4 setae confined to the lower quarter. The parafacialia...
Meigenia majuscula (Hairy-eyed Meigenia)
26 photos
A medium-sized to large Meigenia (body length 6-10 mm) resembling the large forms of M. mutabilis and M. dorsalis but with obviously long-haired eyes. The male cerci viewed dorsally have strongly...
Meigenia dorsalis (Bristly-claspered Meigenia)
32 photos
Extremely similar to M. mutabilis, with a body length of 6-8.5 mm. Smaller individuals are darker than larger ones in much the same way as mutabilis. It appears to be only distinguishable from...
Medina separata (Cryptic Medina)
44 photos
Very similar to M. luctuosa and only separable using the male and female terminalia. In males, the tufts of long hairs arising from the two arms of sternite 5 are pointed rather than dome-shaped in...
Medina luctuosa (Dark-clubbed Medina)
46 photos
Very similar to M. collaris but with dark halteres and less extensive grey dusting on the thorax and abdomen, Separation from M. separata requires examination of the male and female terminalia. In...
Medina collaris (Yellow-clubbed Medina)
88 photos
A small to medium-sized (body length 5-10 mm), dark, bare-eyed tachinid with discrete grey marks on the thorax and abdomen and yellow halteres. The facial ridges have bristles on the lower half to...
Ligeria angusticornis (Plume Moth Parasite Fly)
38 photos
A small (body length 4-5.5 mm), shiny-black, bare eyed tachinid with a row of strong bristles on the facial ridges and particularly long antennae. The antennae are entirely dark and occupy the full...
Leiophora innoxia (Tree Leaf Beetle Parasite Fly)
39 photos
A rather small (body length 5-7 m), slim, large-headed, bare-eyed and dark-looking tachinid with long antennae that occupy almost the full height of the face (reminiscent of Ligeria angusticornis)....
Hemimacquartia paradoxa
4 photos
Gastrolepta anthracina (Lagria Parasite Fly)
45 photos
A small (body length 5-8.5 mm), slim, blackish, long-legged and bare eyed tachinid with grey patches on the tergites and humeri, and conspicuous silvery-white dusting on the sides of the...
Compsilura concinnata (Fang-tailed Parasite Fly)
42 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6-9 mm), hairy-eyed, grey-dusted, sleek-looking tachinid with a row of strong bristles extending nearly to the top of the facial ridges, no ocellar bristles, and...
Blondelia nigripes (Rough-bellied Parasite Fly)
44 photos
A medium-small (body length 5.5-9 mm), bare-eyed, grey-dusted, rather nondescript tachinid with females that can be distinguished from all similar tachinids except Compsilura concinnata (which has...
Brachicheta strigata (Coltsfoot Parasite Fly)
43 photos
A medium-small (body length 4-6.5 mm), bare-eyed, black legged tachinid with a distinctive wing venation and very broad frons in both sexes. The face is retreating and the facial ridges have strong...
Belida angelicae
4 photos
Admontia seria (Narrow-cheeked Admontia)
7 photos
Admontia seria
Similar in size to other Admontia species but with only a single anterodorsal on the mid tibiae. The thoracic dorsum is grey dusted with four dark vittae that separate three pale...
Admontia grandicornis
4 photos
Resembling A. maculisquama but the scutellum has a small pair of apicals in addition to the three pairs of strong marginals (apicals missing in maculisquama), the posterodorsal apical bristle of the...
Admontia blanda
31 photos
Similar in size to A. maculisquama (body length 4-7 mm) but the mid tibiae have only one anterodorsal (as in A seria) and the body markings very distinctive. The frons in both sexes is just over...
Rondania fasciata (Orange-banded Parasite Fly)
14 photos
A very distinctive little tachinid (body length 2.6-3.7 mm) with bare eyes, a densely grey-dusted thorax and a black and orange banded abdomen. The face is unusually short for a tachinid with the...
Exorista tubulosa (Downland Exorista)
24 photos
A relatively small Exorista (body length 6-9.5 mm) with the combination of three pairs of postsutural dorsocentrals and usually no discals on tergite 3. The scutellum is entirely black, and the eyes...
Exorista mimula (Lobed Exorista)
43 photos
A medium-sized Exorista (4.5-9 mm) that closely resembles the common E. rustica. Males are readily separable from those of rustica (and tuberosa) by the pair of large lobes on the inner margins of...
Exorista glossatorum (short-horned Exorista)
4 photos
The only British Exorista with the combination of four pairs of postsutural dorscocentrals and an entirely dark scutellum. The parafacialia are unusually narrow, less than the width of a third...
Exorista fasciata (Sandhill Exorista)
66 photos
One of two large Exorista species (body length 5-13 mm) with the combination of four postsutural dorsocentrals, a largely reddish scutellum and bare eyes. Separable from the other (T. larvarum) using...
Redtenbacheria insignis (Redtenbach's Parasite...
34 photos
A medium-sized (body length 8-9 mm), dark-grey, orange-legged (except dark tarsi), bare-eyed tachinid with broad, silvery jowls. The basal antennal segments and palps are orange. The third antennal...
Hyalurgus lucidus
28 photos
A small (body length 6-8 mm), hairy-eyed tachinid with a grey-dusted head and thoracic dorsum but orange legs, palps, scutellum and abdomen. The male antennae are mostly dark with the third segment...
Germaria ruficeps (Large Germaria)
16 photos
A medium-large (body length 10.5-12. 5 mm), robustly-built, lightly grey dusted tachinid with bare eyes, a very broad face and frons, the antennal aristae geniculate, and wing vein R1 with dorsal...
Germaria angustata (Dune Germaria)
34 photos
A medium-sized (body length 7-9.5 mm), sooty-grey tachinid with bare eyes, a very broad face and frons, the antennal aristae geniculate, and wing vein R1 with dorsal bristles for most of its length....
Opesia grandis (Large Opesia)
5 photos
Resembling an oversized O. cana (body length typically 10 mm) but the thorax has four dark vittae, with the median pair well separated and no stripe between. The calypters are yellow and the...
Opesia cana (Small Opesia)
39 photos
A medium-small (body length 7-8 mm), bare-eyed, densely grey-dusted, rather flattened phasiine tachinid with noticeably large eyes that are almost touching on top in both sexes. The antennae are...
Nemoraea pellucida (Dimorphic Parasite Fly)
35 photos
A large (body length 11-15 mm), robustly built, long-winged, hairy-eyed tachinid with radically different looking sexes that share the unique character of a hairy upper surface to the calypters....
Dionaea aurifrons (Spurge Bug Parasite Fly)
35 photos
A small (body length 6.5-7.5 mm), dark-looking tachinid with bare eyes, and golden dusted parafacialia and parafrontalia. The antennae are short and dark with a barely pubescent arista and are placed...
Chetogena acuminata (Banded Chetogena)
4 photos
A small (body length 3.7-6 mm), heavily grey-dusted exoristine with bristles on the lower two-thirds of the facial ridges, broad, shiny black hind margins of tergites 2-5 and a black tergite 1+2. The...
Chetogena janitrix (Pine Sawfly Parasite Fly)
32 photos
A medium-sized (body length 8-9.5 mm), hairy-eyed, grey-dusted exoristine with bristles on the lower two-thirds of the facial ridges and no differentiated bristles on the dorsal surface of the...
Spilogona veterrima
3 photos
Spilogona trigonata
3 photos
Spilogona trianguligera
3 photos
Spilogona triangulifera
9 photos
Spilogona surda
3 photos
Spilogona solitariana
7 photos
Spilogona setigera
3 photos
Spilogona septemnotata
3 photos
Spilogona scutulata
3 photos
Spilogona pacifica
3 photos
Spilogona meadei
6 photos
Spilogona marina
13 photos
Spilogona griseola
3 photos
Spilogona litorea
3 photos
Spilogona falleni
3 photos
Spilogona depressiuscula
3 photos
Spilogona denigrata
3 photos
Spilogona contractifrons
3 photos
Spilogona brunneisquama
12 photos
Spilogona biseriata
3 photos
Spilogona baltica
3 photos
Spilogona alpica
3 photos
Spilogona aerea
3 photos
Limnophora uniseta
3 photos
Limnophora triangula
8 photos
Limnophora tigrina
24 photos
Limnophora scrupulosa
3 photos
Limnophora riparia
14 photos
Limnophora olympiae
3 photos
Limnophora nigripes
3 photos
Limnophora maculosa
14 photos
Limnophora exuta
3 photos
Lispe uliginosa
3 photos
Lispe tentaculata (Common Lispe)
22 photos
Lispe pygmaea
9 photos
Lispe nana
3 photos
Lispe melaleuca
3 photos
Lispe longicollis
3 photos
Lispe loewi
14 photos
Lispe litorea
7 photos
Lispe consanguinea
3 photos
Lispe caesia
3 photos
Neolimnophora maritima
16 photos
Neolimnophora virgo
3 photos
Lispocephala verna
3 photos
Lispocephala ungulata
3 photos
Added to the British list by Bentley & Falk (2023, DD: 30: 147-151) www.researchgate.net/publication/374925661_Lispocephala_u...
Lispocephala spuria
3 photos
Lispocephala rubricornis
3 photos
Lispocephala pallipalpis
3 photos
Lispocephala fuscitibia
3 photos
Lispocephala falculata
3 photos
Lispocephala erythrocera
4 photos
Study of phenology in Berkshire published by Brelstaff (2023, DD: 30: 212-207.
Lispocephala brachialis
3 photos
Lispocephala alma
3 photos
Pseudocoenosia solitariana
3 photos
Schoenomyza litorella
9 photos
Villeneuvia aestuum
16 photos
Orchisia costata
3 photos
Macrorchis meditata
38 photos
Spanochaeta dorsalis
38 photos
Limnospila albifrons
31 photos
Pseudocoenosia abnormis
3 photos
Coenosia acuminata (Acuminate Coenosia)
23 photos
A male Coenosia captured by Nigel Jones on Cairn Gorm on 5 June 2022 keyed out as C. pulicaria in Fonseca's 1968 RES key but was clearly the non-British sister species, C. acuminata, when S. Falk...
Coenosia vibrissata
3 photos
Coenosia verralli
3 photos
Coenosia trilineella
3 photos
Coenosia tigrina (Tiger Coenosia)
41 photos
Coenosia testacea 'alleni'
3 photos
Coenosia testacea
3 photos
Coenosia stigmatica
3 photos
Coenosia rufipalpis
3 photos
Coenosia ruficornis
3 photos
Coenosia pygmaea
3 photos
Coenosia punctigera
3 photos
Coenosia pumila
4 photos
Coenosia pulicaria
3 photos
Coenosia pudorosa
3 photos
Coenosia perpusilla (Hairy-thighed Coenosia)
18 photos
Coenosia pedella (Cuneate-winged Coenosia)
28 photos
Coenosia paludis
3 photos
Coenosia mollicula
4 photos
Coenosia minutalis
3 photos
Coenosia means
3 photos
Coenosia lacteipennis
3 photos
Coenosia karli
9 photos
Coenosia intermedia
3 photos
Coenosia infantula
3 photos
Coenosia humilis
3 photos
Coenosia flavimana
3 photos
Coenosia femoralis
3 photos
Coenosia dubiosa
3 photos
Coenosia distinguens
3 photos
Coenosia campestris
3 photos
Coenosia brevisquama
3 photos
Coenosia bilineella
3 photos
Coenosia antennata
3 photos
Coenosia atra
5 photos
Coenosia antennata
3 photos
Coenosia albicornis
3 photos
Coenosia agromyzina
5 photos
Dasysyrphus pauxillus (Early Fleckwing)
3 photos
Resembling a small D. pinastri (with the yellow lunules of tergites 2 and 3 not reaching the side margins) but with the third antennal segments orange below and the scutellum entirely or...
Dasysyrphus hilaris (Plain-faced Fleckwing)
9 photos
Extremely similar to D. venustus but with a yellow face that lacks any substantial darkenng (the fiacail knob can be a little infuscated). There is still a question mark over its validity as a good...
Bombus lucorum agg. (undiffereentaited white...
4 photos
Some nice or otherwise useful images of white tails that I cannot push to species.
Pales processioneae (Processionary Moth Pales)
42 photos
Very similar to P. pales but males have the cerci wider in dorsal view and quite straight in lateral view (sinuous in lateral view in P. pavida, see: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064520626926)....
Thelyconychia solivaga
4 photos
A small (body length 4-5 mm), virtually bare-eyed, dark-legged, grey dusted tachinid somewhat resembling a Meigenia but has four (not three) pairs of postsutural dorsocentral bristles and a bare...
Eumea mitis (Scarce Eumea)
4 photos
Very similar to E. linearicornis. Males can be separated by checking the head in side view. The facial ridges are straight, not convex as in linearicornis, and the face is about as long as the frons...
Myxexoristops stolida
41 photos
A medium-small (body length 6.5-8.5 mm), hairy-eyed, heavily dusted tachinid that resembles a slim Phryxe but with a dark abdomen, just a single strong anterodorsal on the mid tibiae and downcurved...
Drino lota (Elephant Hawkmoth Parasite Fly)
30 photos
A medium-large (body length 8-10 mm), robustly built, hairy eyed, heavily dusted tachinid with no strong ocellar bristles between the ocelli, and no distinct discals on tergites 3 and 4. The palps...
Nilea hortulana (Acronicta Parasite Fly)
43 photos
A medium-sized (body length 8-10.5 mm), robustly built, hairy-eyed, black-legged, rather thinly dusted tachinid with blue-black reflections. The palps are pale brown apically and the antennae dark....
Cyzenis albicans (Winter Moth Parasite Fly)
37 photos
A small (body length 4-6 mm), hairy-eyed, black-legged, heavily dusted tachinid (males browner, female greyer) with the jowls nearly half the height of an eye. The palps are reddish and the antennae...
Allophorocera ferruginea (Ferruginous Parasite...
36 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6.5-8.5 mm), bare-eyed, very densely golden-grey or cinerous-grey tachinid with brownish tibiae on otherwise dark legs and yellowish wing bases. The antennae can be...
Phryno vetula (Orange-legged Parasite Fly)
40 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5.5-10 mm), hairy-eyes, orange-legged, densely buff dusted tachinid with an orange scutellum and reddish interfrontalia. The palps and first two antennal segments are...
Blepharipa pratensis (Bristly-backed Fringe-shin)
7 photos
Very similar to B. schineri but with a row of marginals on tergite 3 and often T1+2. The basal antennal segments are darker, and males seem to lack the conspicuous brown sides to the abdomen seen in...
Thecocarcelia acutangulata (Essex Skipper...
39 photos
A medium-large (body length 8-9 mm) bare-eyed, dark-legged, grey-dusted tachinid that is not easily distinguished in the field. It also has the following characteristics: large eyes with very narrow...
Townsendiellomyia nidicola (Brown-tail Moth...
26 photos
A medium-sized (body length 8-10 mm), bare-eyed, black-legged, grey-dusted tachinid that is not easily distinguished in the field. It also has the following characteristics: large eyes with very...
Micronychia ruficauda (Red-tailed Lypha)
31 photos
Resembling the common Lypha dubia but averaging slightly larger (5.5-8 mm) with an orange tip the scutellum, and the male genital capsule and hind margin of the female fifth tergite reddish.
L....
Blepharomyia pagana
55 photos
A medium-small (body length 5-6.5 mm), hairy-eyed, black-legged, grey dusted tachinid with a row of strong bristles down the parafacialia. Tergite 1+2 lacks a complete row of long marginal bristles...
Blepharomyia piliceps
22 photos
Similar to B. pagana but the male frons is just under one-third the head width and the female frons just over one-third, tergite 1+2 has long marginals across most of the hind margin, and the male...
Periscepsia carbonaria (Dune Periscepsia)
43 photos
A small (body length 3.5-5.5 mm), mostly shiny-black tachinid with bare eyes, a row of strong bristles along the parafacialia, black legs and orange palps. The wings are strongly infuscated, with a...
Dufouria nigrita (Small Dufouria)
33 photos
A small (body length 4.5-5 mm), shiny-black, hairy-eyed tachinid that resembles a small version of D. chalybeata. It differs in having only two strong anterodorsals on the mid tibiae, no vittae at...
Phyllomya volvulus (Fusiform Parasite Fly)
42 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6.5-9.5 mm) slender, long-legged, dark-bodied tachinid with bare eyes, relatively long third antennal segments with a short-plumose arista, and short hairs over most of...
Microsoma exiguum (Weevil Parasite Fly)
24 photos
A small (body length 2.5-4.5 mm), dark, bare-eyed tachinid with a silver-white dusted lower head, sides and front of the thorax (but with four dark presutural stripes at the front), prescutellar area...
Campylochaeta praecox (Red-shinned Campylocheta)
20 photos
A small (body length 5.5-7 mm), grey-dusted, hairy-eyed tachinid that closely resembles C. inepta but has some bristly hairs on the upper part of the parafacialia (which becomes darker from some...
Campylocheta inepta (Dark-shinned Campylocheta)
41 photos
A small (body length 4.5-6 mm), heavily-dusted, hairy-eyed tachinid with a strongly receding lower face and a line of bristles extending almost to the top of the facial ridges. The palps are orange...
Periscepsia prunaria (Shiny Bristlecheek)
21 photos
A small (body length 4-5 mm), entirely shiny-black tachinid with bare eyes, a row of strong bristles along the parafacialia, black legs and orange palps. The rather short and narrow wings are...
Periscepsia latifrons (Yellow-based Bristlecheek)
40 photos
A medium-small (body length) 5.5-7 mm), bare-eyed, black-legged, lightly-dusted tachinid with a row of strong bristles along the parafacialia. Vein M very is acutely curved at the bend with a short...
Wagneria costata (Orange-palped Wagneria)
3 photos
A medium-small (body length 7 mm), shiny black, bare-eyed, black-legged tachinid with wings distinctly darkened at the front and along the cross-veins. The wings have a petiole that is slightly...
Wagneria gagatea (Dark-palped Wagneria)
36 photos
A medium-small (body length 6-7 mm), shining black, bare-eyed, black-legged tachinid with a row of strong bristles along the parafacialia. The palps and antennae are dark. The parafacialia have hairs...
Cyrtophloeba ruricola (Hairy-eyed Voria)
38 photos
A medium-small (body length 6.5-8.5 mm) tachinid that closely resembles the common Voria ruralis and also Athrycia species but has hairy eyes. The parafacialia have 4-5 strong downcurved bristles...
Athrycia trepida f. pale palps (Perplexing Voria)
38 photos
Closely resembling the typical form of A. trepida but with orange palps (tips sometimes darkened), redder third antennal segments and different male surstyli (narrower basally with tip rounded not...
Athrycia trepida f. dark palps (Dark-palped Voria)
40 photos
A medium-small (body length 6.5-8.5 mm), bare-eyed, ‘Voria-winged’ (cross-vein r-m very slanted), tachinid that closely resembles other Athrycia species but has the second antennal segment dark...
Athrycia impressa (Heather Voria)
50 photos
A medium-small (body length 6.5-8.5 mm) tachinid that closely resembles other Athrycia species but has the second antennal segment conspicuously reddish with little darkening and the final upcurved...
Athrycia curvinervis (Hairy-shouldered Athrycia)
4 photos
A medium-small (body length 6.5-8.5 mm) tachinid that closely resembles other Athrycia species but usually has some hairs on the proepisternum (sides of the thorax at the front below the anterior...
Eriothrix prolixa (Grizzled Eriothrix)
33 photos
Resembling the common E. rufomaculata in size and shape but much more heavily dusted (creating a grizzled appearance) and without conspicuous red markings on the sides of the abdomen though males...
Panzeria caesia (Folkestone Panzeria)
18 photos
A large Panzeria (body length 8.5-12 mm) resembling species such as P. anthophila, P. connivens, P. consobrina, P. intermedia and P. vivida. Key features include dark palps, normally four pairs of...
Thelaira leucozona (Broad-dusted Thelaira)
3 photos
According to Tshorsnig & Herting males have 3-4 anterodorsals on the mid tibiae like those of T, solivaga but the hairs on the disc of tergites 3 and 4 are shorter and finer (much less than...
Dexia vacua (Banded Dexia)
32 photos
Averaging slightly smaller than D. rustica (6.5-10.5 mm) with broadly darkened hind margins to the tergites, 1+1 rather than 2+1 katepisternals, and 2 rather than 3 intra-alars. Males have the ground...
Estheria bohemani (Boheman's Parasite Fly)
3 photos
Resembling E. cristata but with four pairs of postsutural dorsocentrals, a dark scutellum and the wing petiole about twice as long as cross-vein r-m. The only known British records are from sand...
Dinera carinifrons (Tessellated Dinera)
37 photos
Averaging slightly larger than D. grisescens (body length 4.5-10 mm) with a much darker body and legs. The thoracic dorsum has four dark vittae, the middle two fusing into a broad median stripe from...
Billaea irrorata (Saperda Parasite Fly)
16 photos
A medium-sized (body length 4.5-10 mm), grey and black-patterned, bare-eyed, dark-legged dexiine tachinid with a short-plumose arista. Unlike most British dexiines the face lacks a distinct facial...
Eriothrix prolixa
3 photos
Lypha ruficauda (Red-tailed Lypha)
3 photos
Resembling L. dubia but averaging larger (5.5-8 mm) with an orange tip the scutellum, and the male genital capsule and hind margin of the female fifth tergite reddish.
L. ruficauda is a rare...
Lydina aenea (Aeneous Parasite Fly)
29 photos
A rather small and slim (body length 4.5-7 mm), aeneous-black species with thin dusting over the semi-shiny body and parafrontalia. The thoracic dorsum has a faint pair of narrow dark stripes at the...
Panzeria intermedia (Dune Panzeria)
48 photos
A medium-sized to largish Panzeria (body length 8.5-10.5 mm) that resembles species such as P. caesia, P. connivens, P. consobrina and P. vivida. Key features include mostly dark palps, three rather...
Panzeria connivens (Narrow-cheeked Panzeria)
3 photos
A fairly large Panzeria (body length 8.5-11 mm) resembling species such as P. anthophila, P. caesia, P. consobrina, P. intermedia and P. vivida. Key features include dark palps, four rather than...
Panzeria nemorum (Dark-saddled Panzeria)
45 photos
A medium-sized Panzeria (body length 8.5-11 mm), one of two Panzeria’s that lack a pair of small crossed apicals on the scutellum. Distinguishable from the other (P. laevigata) by the presence of a...
Panzeria vivida (Downland Panzeria)
40 photos
A fairly large Panzeria (body length 9-11.5 mm) resembling species such as P. anthophila, P. caesia, P. connivens, P. consobrina and P. intermedia. Key features include yellowish palps, three rather...
Panzeria vagans (Scarce Sentinel Panzeria)
20 photos
A large and robust Panzeria (body length 10-12.5 mm) that resembles P. rudis but has the hindmost pair of presutural acrostichals much closer to the suture and inserted behind the level of the...
Panzeria puparum (Hairy-faced Panzeria)
16 photos
A particularly large and robust Panzeria (body length 9-12.5 mm) that is readily distinguishable from other Panzeria’s by the hairy parafacialia and long and dense white hairs on the jowls. The...
Panzeria truncata (Spur-veined Panzeria)
31 photos
A relatively small Panzeria (body length 7.5-9.5 mm) with a particularly long appendix on the bend of vein M (usually about as long as cross vein r-m), a feature also shared with P. nemorum (which...
Eloceria delecta (Palpless Centipede Fly)
30 photos
A small (body length 4.5-5.5 mm), rather delicate tachinid with short, sparse eye hairs, the basal excavation of tergite 1+2 finishing well sort of the hind margin, and no obvious palps. The thorax...
Loewia submetallica (Brislty-faced Centipede Fly)
16 photos
Resembling a small, slim L. foeda (body length 4-5.5 mm) but with bristly hairs along the entire length of the parafacialia (the only British Loewia with this feature) and the stalk of cell R4+5...
Loewia phaeoptera (Bare-faced Centipede Fly)
15 photos
Resembling a small L. foeda (body length 4-5 mm) but with the parafacialia entirely bare (the only British Loewia with this character).
L. phaeoptera is a scarce species with scattered records in...
Loewia foeda (Large Centipede Fly)
36 photos
A medium-sized tachinid (body length 6-7.5 mm) but the largest British Loewia species. It is a black, semi-shining (barely dusted) species with smoky-brown wings and a compact, rather flattened shape...
Gymnocheta magna (Large Green Parasite Fly)
19 photos
A metallic-green tachinid that closely resembles G. viridis but varies in the following respects: head in profile with the face less retreating and the upper mouth edge more strongly produced and...
Blepharipa pratensis
6 photos
Clytiomya continua (Long-haired Buff-belly)
23 photos
A small to medium-sized phasiine (body length xx mm) closely resembling Eliozeta pellucens. It differs in having 2 katerpisternals, median hairs of tergites upright and more than half the length of...
Eliozeta pellucens (Short-haired Buff-belly)
5 photos
A small to medium-sized phasiine (body length 3-7 mm) closely resembling Clytiomya continua. It differs in having 3 katepisternals (lower sometimes very thin); median hairs of tergites adpressed with...
Phania thoracica (Scarce Splay-wing)
14 photos
Resembling the common P. funesta but averaging larger (4.5-7 mm) with one rather than two intra-alars, at least 3 sternopleurals, a tuft of long dorsal and anterodorsal bristly hairs towards the tip...
Cylindromyia auriceps (Golden-faced Tube-tail)
33 photos
A medium-sized Cylindromyia (body length 9 mm) which most resembles C. interrupta due to the strong posteroventral bristle on the hind tibiae, discals on the tergites (in addition to strong...
Cylindromyia interrupta (Small Tube-tail)
31 photos
The smallest British Cylindromyia (body length 6-7.5 mm). Like C. auriceps it has a strong posteroventral bristle on the hind tibiae, discals on the tergites (in addition to strong submarginals) and...
Cylindromyia brassicaria (Large Tube-tail)
18 photos
The largest of the three British Cylindromyia species with a black tip to the abdomen (body length 10-13 mm) and the only one lacking a strong posteroventral bristle on the hind tibiae or discals on...
Lophosia fasciata (Club-tailed Parasite Fly)
27 photos
A medium-sized (body length 8-10 mm), dark-bodied, elongate phasiine with a club-shaped abdomen, axe-shaped third antennal segments and a band across the apical third of the wings. There is no other...
Cinochira atra (Skulking Parasite Fly)
24 photos
A tiny (body length 2.5-3 mm), fragile-looking, rather long-legged phasiine that is one of the least tachinid-looking tachinids in the British fauna. Van Emden (1954) regarded it as a rhinophorid,...
Leucostoma anthracinum (Grey-tailed Big-flap)
14 photos
A small, black phasiine (body length 5.5 mm) with very large, white lower calypters, wing cell R4+5 closed with a stalk about twice as long as cross-vein r-m, bare eyes, short antennae placed low on...
Leucostoma simplex (Dark-tailed Big-flap)
24 photos
A small, black phasiine (body length 5.5 mm) with very large, white lower calypters, wing cell R4+5 closed with a stalk about twice as long as cross-vein r-m, bare eyes, short antennae placed low on...
Subclytia rotundiventris (Silvery Yellow-belly)
25 photos
A rather small (body length 4-5 mm) phasiine tachinid with a dark, grey-dusted thoracic dorsum, brown or yellowish scutellum, mostly yellow legs, and an abdomen that is yellow with several dark spots...
Gymnosoma nitens (Little Balloon-belly)
22 photos
A small tachinid (body length 2.5-3 mm) with a shiny black thoracic dorsum and a red abdomen lacking clear sutures between the tergites and with black triangles or bars along the hind margins of...
Gymnosoma rotundatum (Ladybird Balloon-belly)
22 photos
A medium-sized (body length 4.5-8 mm) very distinctive tachinid with a dark thorax and an orange abdomen with three round black spots coinciding with the hind margins of tergites 3-5, though (being a...
Phasia aurigera (Yellow-winged Phasia)
3 photos
A large, flattened Phasia resembling P. hemiptera but with entirely dark femora and greyish rather than golden hairs on the sides of the thorax. Both sexes have a striped thoracic dorsum with a large...
Linnaemyia comta (White-bearded Small-palp)
21 photos
Linnaemyia comta is a medium-sized (8.5-11 mm) Linnaemyia with white hairs on the jowls, yellowish hairs on the anepisternum, very short palps (only 2-3 times as long as wide), and the section of the...
Linnaemyia tessellans (Fine-bearded Small-palp)
50 photos
A medium-sized Linnaemyia (body length 8.5-11.5 mm) with entirely dark legs (as in L. rossica) and numerous very fine black hairs on the jowls (a character state not found in the other four species)....
Gonia divisa (Red-sided Broadface)
18 photos
A medium-sized (body-length 8.5-11 mm), robustly built tachinid with the characteristic shape of a Gonia (notably the large head with small eyes, a very broad face and frons, relatively short wings...
Gonia capitata (Large Broadface)
17 photos
Averaging as the largest broadface (body length 9-13 mm) and readily distinguished from the other British species by the mostly orange abdomen with a narrow dark median stripe which is less than...
Tachina magnicornis (Broad-fronted Tachina)
42 photos
Closely resembling T. fera but with the hair of the jowls completely or mostly black (all yellow in fera), the fore tarsi darker blackish-brown, and a broader frons (that of female about two-fifths...
Admontia maculisquama
52 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5.5-8 mm), bare-eyed, grey dusted tachinid that is not easily identified in the field. The parafacialia have scattered hairs along their length and are about as wide as a...
Bithia spreta (Dark-palped Bithia)
57 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5-10.5 mm), slim, virtually bare-eyed, heavily dusted tachinid with reddish sides to the abdomen, and bristles on the dorsal side of wing vein R1 apically and much of vein...
Blepharipa schineri (Smooth-backed Fringe-shin)
42 photos
A large (body length 10-12 mm), broadly built, bare-eyed, dark-legged, long-winged tachinid. The hind tibiae have a dense anterodorsal fringe of hairs about 1-1.5 times the tibial width and a largely...
Carcelia lucorum (Common Carcelia)
57 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6.5-9 mm), broadly built, rather flattened tachinid with large and densely haired eyes and a reddish scutellum that contrasts with a grey dusted thorax and abdomen. The...
Carcelia puberula (Sparse-haired Carcelia)
46 photos
One of two Carcelia species with the combination of yellow basicostae, a single anterodorsal on the mid tibiae and dark humeri. Separable from the other (C. rasa) by the broader frons (about...
Catharosia pygmaea (White-tipped Parasite Fly)
31 photos
A tiny (body length 2.5-3 mm), shiny-black phasiine readily distinguished from all other tachinids by the dark wings with a milky-white apex, and vein M sharply bent to meet vein R4+5 well before the...
Chrysosomopsis auratus (Spurless Green Parasite...
10 photos
A medium-sized (body length 8-9 mm), metallic-green tachinid that closely resembles Gymnocheta viridis but has a much more strongly protruding lower face, pale palps, cruciate scutellar apicals,...
Cistogaster globosa (Bishop's-mitre Parasite Fly)
42 photos
A small (body length 3.5 -5 mm), dumpy tachinid with very different-looing sexes. Males have the front of the thorax and parafrontalia densely golden dusted and the rounded abdomen mostly orange but...
Dexia rustica (Plain Dexia)
45 photos
A medium-large (body length 7-12 mm), densely grey-dusted, bare-eyed, long-legged tachinid with plumose aristae and a well-formed facial ridge between the antennae. The thorax has four narrow vittae...
Dexiosoma caninum (Cockchafer Parasite Fly)
43 photos
A medium-large (body length 8-13 mm), densely grey or buff dusted, bare-eyed, long-legged tachinid with plumose antennal aristae and a strongly retreating lower face. The thoracic dorsum has four...
Dinera grisescens (Cinereous Dinera)
43 photos
A medium-small (body length 4.5-8.5 mm), grey-dusted, slim, long-legged tachinid with bare-eyes and plumose aristae. The thorax has four narrow vittae. The abdomen is evenly grey dusted and tergite...
Dufouria chalybeata (Large Dufouria)
46 photos
A medium-small (body length 5.5-6.5 mm), shiny-black tachinid with hairy eyes, antennae placed rather low on the face, the dorsal excavation of tergite 1+2 stopping well short of the hind margin, and...
Ectophasia crassipennis
53 photos
A medium-sided to large phasiine tachinid (body length 7-12.5 mm) that is highly variable in appearance. It is a flattened species with a broad head and closely resembles one of the larger Phasia...
Epicampocera succincta (Pieris Parasite Fly)
66 photos
A medium-sized (body length 7.5-9 mm), robustly built, dark grey tachinid with black legs and hairy eyes. The palps and antennae are black and the parafacialia have an irregular double row of short...
Eriothrix rufomaculata (Red-sided Parasite Fly)
58 photos
A medium-small (body length 5-10 mm), rather slim, hairy-eyed, black-legged tachinid, the body dark with shifting grey markings except for bright red patches on the side of the abdomen. These red...
Panzeria rudis (Sentinel Panzeria)
50 photos
An impressively large and robust Panzeria (body length 8-13 mm) with four dark stripes at the front of the thorax, four pairs of postsutural dorsocentrals and two pairs of presutural acrostichals,...
Estheria cristata (Garden Chafer Parasite Fly)
42 photos
A medium-sized (body length 8.5-10.5 mm) densely grey-dusted tachinid with bare eyes, a plumose arista and a short petiole (shortest than cross vein r-m) at the end of wing cell R4+5. The vibrissae...
Eumea linearicornis (Common Eumea)
39 photos
A medium-small (body length 6.5-8.5 mm), hairy-eyed, black-legged, grey-dusted tachinid with five dark stripes on the thoracic dorsum, the middle three being closely approximated and especially...
Panzeria anthophila (Dark-tailed Panzeria)
63 photos
A fairly large Panzeria (body length 7.5-11.5 mm) though not as robust as P. rudis, P. vagans or P. puparum and most similar to species such as E. caesia, E. connivens, E. consobrina and E. vivida....
Panzeria consobrina (Anvil-tailed Panzeria)
52 photos
A fairly large Panzeria (body length 9-11.5 mm) resembling species such as P. anthophila, P. caesia, P. connivens, P. intermedia and P. vivida. Key features include yellowish palps, usually four...
Exorista larvarum (Red-saddled Exorista)
77 photos
One of two large Exorista species (body length 6-14 mm) with the combination of four postsutural dorsocentrals, a largely reddish scutellum and bare eyes. Separable from the other (T. fasciata) using...
Exorista rustica (Rustic Exorista)
60 photos
A medium-sized Exorista (body length 7.3-11 mm) with bare eyes, three pairs of postsutural dorscocentrals, a wholly dark scutellum, and discals usually present on tergite 3. Sternite 5 of the male...
Freraea gagatea (Curve-vein Parasite Fly)
28 photos
A small (body length 3.5-4.5 mm), shiny-black, bare-eyed, black-legged, rather flattened tachinid with a gently curved vein M that leaves cell R4-5 open apically. The body bristles are short and...
Gastrolepta anthracina
5 photos
Gonia ornata (Dune Broadface)
38 photos
A medium-sized (body-length 8.5-11.5 mm), robustly-built tachinid with the characteristic shape of a Gonia (notably the large head with small eyes, a very broad face and frons, relatively short wings...
Gonia picea (Dark Broadface)
53 photos
A medium-sized (body-length 8-12 mm), robustly-built tachinid with the characteristic shape of a Gonia (notably the large head with small eyes, a very broad face and frons, relatively short wings and...
Gymnocheta viridis (Green Parasite Fly)
56 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6.5-11 mm), metallic-green tachinid that can only be confused with G. magna and Chrysosomopsis auratus. G. magna has a more strongly projecting lower face, barely any...
Hemyda vittata (Orange-sided Fold-tail)
22 photos
A medium-sized (body length 7-8 mm) shiny black species with large orange side-patches on the abdomen that are separated by a black median stripe that is sometimes weak and broken. The legs are...
Linnaemyia picta (Pale-shinned Small-palp)
70 photos
A medium-sized Linnaemyia (body length 9-11.5 mm) with relatively few, entirely black hairs on the jowls, also black-haired anepisternum and sternite 1. Cross-vein m-cu is longer than the apical...
Linnaemyia rossica (Northern Small-palp)
55 photos
A medium-sized Linnaemyia (body length 8-10.5 mm) with relatively few, entirely black hairs on the jowls, also black-haired anepisternum and sternite 1. Cross-vein m-cu is longer than the apical...
Linnaemyia vulpina (Heath Small-palp)
42 photos
A medium-sized Linnaemyia (body length 9-11.5 mm) that is easily recognised due the predominantly orange abdomen (with a narrow black median stripe) and entirely orange femora and tibiae. The jowls...
Lypha dubia (Woodland
50 photos
A small (body length 4-7 mm), stocky, heavily dusted tachinid with particularly long bristles on the top of the thorax and abdomen. The downcurved lateral scutellars are almost 3 times the length of...
Macquartia dispar (Disparate Macquartia)
54 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6-9 mm), fairly robust Macquartia with very different looking sexes. Both sexes are heavily dusted, but the males are darker-looking than the females and have the femora...
Macquartia praefica (Anthracite Macquartia)
46 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5.5-8 mm) robustly built Macquartia with a blackish body that is barely dusted and semi-shining, creating an appearance rather like Zophomyia temula but without the bright...
Masicera silvatica
29 photos
A large (body length 8-13 mm), broadly built, bare-eyed, black-legged, grey dusted tachinid that usually stands out from similar species simply by its size. The antennae are dark with the third...
Meigenia mutabilis small form (Common Meigenia)
51 photos
A small to medium sized (3-8.5 mm), grey dusted tachinid with inconspicuously hairy eyes and rather different looking sexes (males are darker and more strongly patterned than females). There are two...
Nemorilla floralis (Broad-striped Parasite Fly)
49 photos
A medium-small (body length 4.5-8 mm), hairy-eyed, rather flattened tachinid with a broad dark median stripe at the front of the thorax. The antennae are dark except for a reddish base to the third...
Nowickia ferox (Fat-palped Tachina)
60 photos
A large (body length 11-15 mm), bristly-black tachinid with orange sides to the abdomen, black legs, yellow wing bases and a whitish head capssule. Females have the black median stripe of the abdomen...
Ocytata pallipes (Earwig Parasite Fly)
37 photos
A small (body length 5-7.5 mm) densely grey dusted, bare-eyed, orange-legged tachinid that usually has vein m continuing beyond cross-vein r-m but terminating some distance before the wing margin and...
Oswaldia muscaria
46 photos
A small to medium-sized (body length 5-8 mm), nondescript, grey-dusted tachinid with bare eyes. The parafrontalia are bare and about as wide as a third antennal segment, and the face is retreating....
Pales pavida (Common Pales)
51 photos
A medium-sized (body length 5-10 mm), robustly built, hairy-eyed, dark-looking tachinid with blue-black reflections and the mid and hind tibiae usually obviously brownish-yellow. The palps and...
Panzeria laevigata (Early Panzeria
47 photos
A medium-sized Panzeria (body length 7-10 mm), one of two Panzeria’s that lack a pair of small crossed apicals on the scutellum. Distinguishable from the other (P. nemorum) by the lack of a long...
Parasetigena silvestris (Gypsy Moth Parasite Fly)
71 photos
A medium to large (body length 7-11.5 mm), hairy-eyed, heavily dusted tachinid that resembles a Phorocera or Exorista grandis. The antennae are dark except for the reddish extreme base to the third...
Species holder
3 photos
Pelatachina tibialis (Thick-shinned Parasite Fly)
48 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6.5-10 mm), bullet-shaped, bare-eyed tachinid that is heavily dusted with three dark stripes at the front of the thorax (the middle one very broad) and shifting grey...
Phania funesta (Common Splay-wing)
44 photos
A very small (body length 3.5-5 mm), slim. shiny black, bristly phasiine with silvery parafacialia and occiputs, grey dusted humeri and notopleuri, bare eyes and short, dark antennae. Vein M has a...
Phasia barbifrons (Yellow-clubbed Phasia)
40 photos
A small, dark Phasia (body length 2-3 mm) closely resembling P. pusilla but with yellow rather than dark halteres and many more long hairs on the parafrontalia, these extending outwards of the...
Phasia hemiptera (Bat-winged Phasia)
76 photos
Large males are spectacular, strangely flattened flies up to 12.5mm long with broad, heavily marked wings, a very broad head, and an abdomen that is slaty grey-blue with reddish side margins....
Phasia obesa (Stripe-backed Phasia)
49 photos
A small to medium-sized Phasia (body length 3-7 mm) with shifting dark stripes on the thorax. Large males have somewhat broadened wings (though not as broad as P. hemiptera or P. aurigera) with dark...
Phasia pusilla (Little Phasia)
38 photos
A small (body length 2-3 mm), dark, clear-winged Phasia with similar-looking sexes, though males have more conspicuous grey dusting on the abdomen when viewed from behind. Most likely to be confused...
Phorocera assimilis (Red-saddled Phorocera)
61 photos
A medium-sized to large (body length 8-13 mm), hairy-eyed, robustly built tachinid with a well-developed pattern of shifting grey tessellations on the abdomen, and a scutellum that is usually reddish...
Phryno vetula
4 photos
Phryxe nemea (Long-gap Phryxe)
51 photos
Closely resembling P. vulgaris, including the shape of the male surstyli. It can be distinguished from all other Phryxe species by the fact the at the setae of the facial ridges rarely extend higher...
Prosena siberita (Sabre-tongued Parasite Fly)
49 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6-10.5 mm), densely grey-dusted fly with very long mostly reddish legs and an exceptionally long, slender proboscis that is over twice as long as the height of the head....
Periscepsia spathulata (Common Bristlecheek)
49 photos
A medium-small (body length 6-8 mm), bare-eyed, black-legged, grey-dusted tachinid with a row of strong bristles along the parafacialia. It is most easily distinguished from other Periscepsia species...
Senometopia pollinosa
52 photos
A medium-sized (body length 6.5-8.5 mm), hairy-eyed, robustly built, densely cinereous-dusted tachinid with the large eyes, narrow jowls, and a round head (viewed from the front) also seen in...
Siphona species
13 photos
Solieria pacifica (Broad-fronted Solieria)
51 photos
A medium-small (body length 4.5-8 mm), bare-eyed, rather slim, heavily dusted tachinid with long mostly orange legs and a wide frons in both sexes. The facial ridges are bare except just above the...
Sturmia bella (Nymphalid Parasite Fly)
60 photos
A large (body length 8-11 mm), broadly built, grey-dusted, bare-eyed, dark-legged tachinid. The hind tibiae have a dense anterodorsal fringe of hairs about 1-1.5 times the tibial width. The palps and...
Tachina fera (Common Tachina)
55 photos
One of our most familiar tachinids, a medium-large (body length 10-14 mm), robust species with an orange abdomen bearing a conspicuous medium stripe (about one-quarter the width of the abdomen) and a...
Tachina grossa (Giant Tachina)
51 photos
Britain's largest tachinid (body length 13.5-20 mm) and one of Britain's biggest flies. Very bristly with a black body featuring a yellow head capsule and yellow wing bases. The legs are completely...
Tachina lurida (Dingy Tachina)
37 photos
A medium-sized (body length 11-13 mm), furry-brown tachinid that only really needs to be contrasted with T. ursina. It ls less furry than ursina, with pale rather than black hairs on the...
Tachina ursina (Bear Tachina)
44 photos
A medium to large (body length 10-16 mm), furry-brown tachinid that only really needs to be contrasted with T. lurida. T. ursina is a furrier and more broadly built species with mostly black hairs on...
Thelaira nigrina (Dark-sided Thelaira)
57 photos
A medium-large (body length 7.5-12 mm), long legged, big-eyed tachinid. Both sexes have broad grey dust bands across the base of tergites 3-5. The slimmer males can have the have the sides of the...
Thelaira solivaga (Orange-sided Thelaira)
58 photos
A medium-large (body length 7.5-12 mm), long legged, big-eyed tachinid with very different-looking sexes. Males have conspicuous orange side patches on the abdomen, separated by a black median stripe...
Trixa caerulescens (Bluish Trixa)
40 photos
A very distinctive, medium-large (body length 8.5-13 mm), small-headed, robust tachinid with dense powder-blue dusting. The thorax has four blackish vittae and the tergites have broad, shifting dark...
Trixa conspersa (Variegated Trixa)
48 photos
A distinctive, medium-large (body length 8-13 mm), small-headed, robust tachinid with a strong shifting pattern of black and pale grey markings. On the thorax this takes the form of four vittae, the...
Voria ruralis (Bristly-winged Voria)
57 photos
A medium-small (body length 6.5-8 mm), squat, short-winged, darkish tachinid with shifting grey markings, a strongly bristled head (with 3 strong curved bristles on the upper parafacialia) and dark...
Zophomyia temula (Jet-black Parasite Fly)
45 photos
A medium-sized (body length 8-10.5 mm), distinctive tachinid with a shiny jet-black, very bristly body, entirely black legs and very bright yellow wing bases. The eyes are bare, and the frons of both...
Eumerus - general information
1 photo
Eumerus narcissi (Santa Cruz Roundface)
41 photos
Resembling E. strigatus but males can be readily distinguished by the black-haired genital capsule (pale-haired in E. strigatus and E. sogdianus). The male ocellar triangle is much narrower than in...