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Hi there,
Here you have a couple of photos of Usia shot in Sierra Nevada, S Spain at 2500 masl. Photo taken 26/07/2008. Size aprox. 6 mm.

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Another shot.

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I never saw an Usia so lately! Usually they are early species...

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This one is from the end of July. I guess that high in the mountains they come out later. The flowers up there flower later and this year they were particulary late.

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These appear to be typical of the taxon i call Usia aenea, however, U. similis is unknown to me and probably very similar.

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I thought this would have been a different species than a previous U. aeneus I published here. I think it was a bit smaller, and seems to have fewer white hairs on the torax. Also, the black markings above the light ones at the base of the wings are more marked. Although, I could be wrong.

Thanks,

Guillermo.

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do you mean this one?. If so you are possibly right, the one in the gallery does not look right for aenea. However, aenea as i currently understand it is highly variable and possibly a complex of sibling species.

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Yes, that is the one I meant. Reading again, I noticed I was not very clear. The smaller ones with fewer white hairs are these later ones on the yellow flower. I guess that is probably why Miguel Carles-Tolr? identified the one in the gallery as U. aenea or aenoides.