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 Salt Marsh species?
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| Tony T |
Posted on 11-07-2007 14:57
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 Member Location: New Brunswick, Canada Posts: 662 Joined: 08.02.07 |
10 July 2007, New Brunswick, Canada Saw this pair while I was seeking Tabanids on an Atlantic salt marsh. Not sure if the habitat is significant but thought maybe this species is also on the other side of the ocean. Genus? or better 
Tony T attached the following image:  [42.63Kb] |
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| amalia_raluca |
Posted on 12-07-2007 12:38
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 Member Location: Romania Posts: 590 Joined: 22.03.07 |
Merodon sp. |
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| Paul Beuk |
Posted on 12-07-2007 12:50
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 Super Administrator Location: Netherlands Posts: 19363 Joined: 11.05.04 |
Not Merodon. As I understand, the only Nearctic species is the introduced M. equestris, which should have a triangular expansion at the tip of the hind femur. No such thing here.
Paul - - - - Paul Beuk on https://diptera.info |
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| Tony T |
Posted on 12-07-2007 22:45
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Member Location: New Brunswick, Canada Posts: 662 Joined: 08.02.07 |
Thank you both for your comments. The species has been identified as Lejops (Polydontomyia) curvipes, a widespread species of salt marshes occurring on the East and West Coasts of North America and in thje saline prairie wetlands in the center of the continent. How does a fly with such a restricted habitat get so widespread? |
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| Susan R Walter |
Posted on 13-07-2007 13:51
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 Member Location: Touraine du Sud, central France Posts: 1802 Joined: 14.01.06 |
Perhaps the habitats once connected up, or perhaps other habitats provided the flies requirements too, but now no longer exist or are changed sufficiently to exclude the fly.
Susan |
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| Tony T |
Posted on 14-07-2007 02:36
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Member Location: New Brunswick, Canada Posts: 662 Joined: 08.02.07 |
I suppose they must have been connected once upon a time; I can't see any way that a fly restricted to saline marsh could fly across the width of today's North America. Still difficult to get it into the center of the continent in the saline marshes. These saline ponds are not connected to the ocean and probably never have been, they are saline because of the limited rainfall and great evaporation of surface water in the western deserts/prairies. |
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