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This looks like Empis sp to me. Is it Empis tessellata and is it male or female?

From 20 May 2006, east London cemetery park, 10mm.

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Another view.

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yes. Empididae - presence of long and rigid proboscis - and pointed to the ground (very caracteristical for this family); and it is visible in second photo a cross-vein between 2nd basal cell and discal cell. :)

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Typically Empis tessellata, a male.

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Thanks Paul. Striped thorax, large size, yellow wing bases, cylindrical, untapered abdomen, legs not entirely red - is there anything else that is diagnostic, useful or important?

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Beware the leg colour as E. tessellata can have almost all dark or almost all yellowish red legs. I think this has something to do with the amount of light they receive as the two forms have been reported to inhabit woodlands and open areas. There is some old literature on this :- I can't put my hands on it right now but if you are interested, let me know and I'll look the references up fot you
cheers
Adrian

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Adrian - interesting - don't trouble to look up the reference now, but I will bear it in mind and start noting leg colour and habitat for this year's specimens and see what I get. My understanding was that E tessellata never has entirely red legs.

The site this specimen came from is Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, the last of the large scale 19th century cemeteries to be created in London (the first being the more well known Kensal Green). It is basically a mixed woodland (mostly deciduous, but a lot of ivy and holly) crisscrossed by many paths, lots of gravestones and with a number of glades and open grassy areas. The specimen was picked up on flowering umbellifers which run around the edge of one of the glades - halfway between the woodland and the open area, so half red legs, half black perhaps ;)