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Hi everyone,

I'm wondering in what way they are different - I read sth about the thorax' colour (R. rostrata is more slate grey), but nevertheless I cannot really decide what species this is. Is there any other specific character?

2014-09-11, Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, Mohrkirch.

Thank you!

Lennart

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This is R. campestris which darkened abdomen edge and rather dark legs. If you have an idea about genus and perhaps species, google for literature (e. g., the Rhingia key http://web.archiv...n_key.html) or search the older forum threads (in this case Forum Search - kewords Rhingia - sort Ascending) - it is a treasure! In the threads of the first years of the forum you get lots of information about discrimination between species.
Regards, Sundew

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You're right, I probably should try that more often... I usually had problems with terms in the keys, but I guess it would be helpful to get familiar with them anyway.

Yeah, the search function...that's a real good tip, I must have suppressed it ;)

Thank you for another explanation,
Lennart

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If you want to get more acquainted with flies (and I think every serious member of this forum will), you have to deal with fly morphology and the scientific terms. In this forum, we have a glossary and a part "Overviews" where you find excellent explanations , e. g. http://www.dipter...ad_id=8790. Take the time and check the threads therein! Then, there are helpful websites such as http://www.ento.c...ossary.html or http://www.giand....mp;lang=en.
This forum has more than 3,200 members and only a few are the top experts. They cannot answer every question, that would be a fulltime job. I am no dipterist but have gathered some experience and try to help. But one has to do quite an amount of self-study. If your are particularly interested in Syrphids, I recommend the book "Britain's Hoverflies" (http://www.amazon...069115659X) - most of the species are found in Germany, too. Lots of photographs of native Syrphids you find in http://www.syrphi.... So the world of flies is discoverable - here we go!

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Thank you very much for the links! Of course I'm interested, so I'll check them out. There's only a time problem, but who hasn't got that.... and in fact there's no need to hurry :)
Isn't "De Nederlandse zweefvliegen" the more suitable book for Northern Germany? It seems to be more complete.

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Certainly a great book by top authors! And the Dutch language is widely understandable to Germans, too. However, I found it convenient to start with a well-illustrated, handy book in English that, also for newbies, offers a bulk of information on that fascinating family for a rather low price. Once I've learned to discriminate between the species depicted therein, I shall possibly get something more complete :).