Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Ethiopian Tachinid
Posted by Nikita Vikhrev on 12-08-2012 07:44
#1
Is it genus Tachina or some related one? Central Ethiopia (several places), rainy season, 1900m asl.
Edited by Nikita Vikhrev on 12-08-2012 07:51
Posted by sd on 12-08-2012 11:55
#2
This is Dejeania:)
Steve
Posted by Nikita Vikhrev on 12-08-2012 18:46
#3
Thank you Steve (nice fly and nice generic name :)
Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 12-08-2012 18:48
#4
are you in Ethiopia still, Nikita?
well, very unlikely.. because I doubt about the internet connections over there.
Edited by jorgemotalmeida on 12-08-2012 20:23
Posted by ChrisR on 12-08-2012 20:02
#5
Lovely fly - fascinating that they have such a similar flies to the *Dejeania in the neotropics but I guess geological history proves they were once joined :)
Posted by Nikita Vikhrev on 12-08-2012 21:29
#6
1. Jorge: I'm back 24hours ago.
2. Chris, I also checked the http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov:8080/FMPro and found I lot of Neotropic Dejeania and a few Afrotrotical. The species level identification is not possible?
Posted by ChrisR on 12-08-2012 21:40
#7
In the Neotropics we need a lot more work because names are often pretty meaningless, due to the diversity and the bad work of predecessors ... as you know. In the Afrotropics it might be better ... Steve has been doing more work on this than I have, I think. There is also a manual of Afrotropical Diptera in prep. so that might help :)
Posted by sd on 16-08-2012 22:50
#8
I think this is Dejeania bombylans but I'm not 100% sure.
There are several similar tachinid genera between South America and Africa but the Tachinidae, indeed the Calypterates, evolved too late ( 10- 50 MYA, Million years ago) to be centred in Gondwana (which broke up 100 MYA). The modern distribution is actually one of residual populations after the increasingly colder climate in the Northern Hemisphere in the past 20 Million years removed all of the tropical species from the Palaearctic and Nearctic Regions. e.g Tsetse Flies are found in North American and European amber from 30 MYA.
Marsupials mammals are another interesting example of biogeography. They initially evolved and radiated from North America and Asia and flourished globally with many fossil species known from Europe. The modern distribution in South America and Australia is a residual one. The entire Australian Marsupial fauna may have evolved from a single species which crossed over from Antarctica 50 MYA!
For more info see for example Grimaldi and Engel "Evolution of the Insects" p539-547, p625-635.
Regards,
Steve
Posted by ChrisR on 16-08-2012 23:33
#9
Interesting stuff Steve - thanks - I might get that :)