Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Calliphora vomitoria, Calliphoridae, Hungary, April 2007

Posted by Xespok on 07-05-2007 15:16
#1

Any idea on this greenish fly?

Edited by Xespok on 07-05-2007 18:53

Posted by Xespok on 07-05-2007 15:18
#2

A view from a different angle.

Is this a green variety of C. vomitoria? All Calliphora species were distinctly bluish.

Posted by Tony Irwin on 07-05-2007 18:03
#3

It looks like vomitoria to me. Judging from the state of the wing margin, it's an overwintered specimen, so the greenish tinge of the abdomen is not surprising.

Posted by Xespok on 07-05-2007 18:54
#4

Thx Tony,

Why overwintering would change the tinge?

Interestingly C. vicina has emerged at least a month before I saw the first C. vomitoria here.

Posted by Tony Irwin on 07-05-2007 22:24
#5

The cuticle undergoes changes as it ages. Wearing of the outer surface and possibly separation of the layers of chitin cause changes in the metallic colour. We often see this in late summer Lucilia and Gymnocheta - older flies become a coppery-bronze colour instead of the usual metallic green. If you look at the post on http://www.dipter...#post_4750, you will see that the photo of vomitoria (the dorsal shot just above the last one) has a blue abdomen with an undamaged wing margin - typical of a younger fly.