Thread subject: Diptera.info :: A bumblebee mimicking tachinid, Tachina?-->Yes,subgn Servilia
Posted by guplox on 23-02-2022 04:36
#1
Picture taken in early March, east China (Zhejiang province). This tachinid fly has fiery-red hair on abdomen, scutellum and legs and looks somewhat like Tachina ardens in our gallery (
https://diptera.i...o_id=11471) but some details are noticeably different, including the thorax coloration. Could it still belong to the same genus, that is, Tachina? Many thanks in advance.
Edited by guplox on 23-02-2022 08:34
Posted by guplox on 23-02-2022 04:37
#2
A latero-ventral view
Posted by Zeegers on 23-02-2022 07:55
#3
Yes, this is a Tachina subg. Servillia.
There are many species in the eastern Palaearctic.
Theo
Posted by guplox on 23-02-2022 08:07
#4
Wonderful! Thank you Theo very much for the confirmation and the sub-genus ID! I'll see what I can find in this Servilia direction.
Posted by John Carr on 27-01-2024 19:40
#5
Good news, the key in
Flies of China says there are only three species of
Tachina (Servillia) with dark calypters, and they have a dark body with reddish hair on the abdomen like your fly. Bad news, your fly is not any of those three species, all of which are found far to the west and also differ in some color or structural character.
The illustration of
Tachina bombidiforma (Chao, 1987) shows proclinate orbitals, and although the sex is not specified it is paired with an illustration of male genitalia.
T. furcipennis (Chao & Zhou, 1987) has light hair and pollen on the head.
T. haemorrhoa (Mesnil, 1953) has a broader frons. If general appearance is reliable you have a cousin to these species. General appearance is not always reliable in Tachinidae.
Edited by John Carr on 27-01-2024 19:41
Posted by John Carr on 01-12-2024 01:21
#6
There is some more information about the
Tachina of China in
Dong, Ruiqing et al. 2024. Three new species and two newly recorded species of Tachininae from Tibet, China (Arthropoda, Insecta, Diptera, Tachinidae). ZooKeys 1191: 215–235 (2024)
https://doi.org/1...191.105549
I believe the authors use
Tachina in the Canadian sense, where
Servillia is a synonym of
Tachina (Tachina) and
Nowickia and the American
Rhachogaster are also subgenera of
Tachina.
Posted by guplox on 01-12-2024 12:34
#7
Ah, thank you so much for keeping me informed of the new information you have! |t I was wondering if this is actually something undescribed. The thing is, previously I tried to find the answer in a 2009 Chinese-language thesis titled "Systematic Study of the Genus Tachina Meigen from China". Although there was a key to the species in the genus in the thesis, I was unable to find the one single species that has all the details of my observation. But if "general appearance is not always reliable in Tachinidae", maybe the answer is still there but it somehow escaped my notice. :|