Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Unequal antennae
Posted by victorengel on 29-06-2021 17:19
#1
Do you think this is antenna damage, or are the unequal antenna caused by something else? Biting midge, Austin, Texas, USA.
Posted by Tony Irwin on 29-06-2021 20:42
#2
Forcipomyia bipunctata (Ceratopogonidae). It appears to have a developmental problem. It's a female, and the right antenna is the normal size, but the left one is reduced for some reason. Males have much bushier antennae, so it's not a gynandromorph.
Posted by victorengel on 29-06-2021 22:15
#3
Yeah, that's what I suggested on FB, although I didn't know the iD of the fly. I suggested a male looks more like this, but I don't know if this is the same species or not.
... also photographed at the same location but a different date.
Edited by victorengel on 29-06-2021 22:17
Posted by Tony Irwin on 30-06-2021 09:37
#4
Yes, that looks like a male
bipunctata