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Posted by Piluca_Alvarez on 27-11-2016 20:41

I have never seen a specimen of Cytherea aurea but this creature looks way too similar to a very worn Heteralonia aeaca to me ;) Pay attention to the existence of a cross vein connecting R2+3 and R4. As far as I know it is not present in Cytherea aurea (I cannot be entirely sure though) but it is in Heteralonia aeaca.

Edited by Piluca_Alvarez on 27-11-2016 20:42

Posted by Armen Seropian on 27-11-2016 20:53

Thank you for quick response, Piluca!
I didn't pay attention to wing venation, just looked through an article about Bombyliidae of Jordan and saw a fly signed as Cytherea aureus with similar wing coloration (thus the suggestion).
But know, that you have posted, I think I'll stick to your version, just need to check presence of the species in Israel |t

Posted by Piluca_Alvarez on 27-11-2016 22:08

Hi again, Armen :)

When you mentioned the paper about Bombyliidae of Jordan I felt I knew which one it was. I checked and a picture of Cytherea aurea is there, yes!!

Now I can tell for sure that your fly is not Cytherea aurea. This species definitely lacks the vein I told you about and has the typical habitus of a Cytherea :) Your creature looks entirely as Heteralonia. Besides Cytherea aurea has some infuscated veins (both in description and in that image in the paper) that your specimen lacks.

As far as I can read in the literature Heteralonia aeaca only can be mistaken by H. aegina, which has a different colour pattern on wings (I have never seen an image of it to confirm the description though). So, your fly should be indeed Heteralonia aeaca :) Congratulations for the finding! It doesn't seem to have been reported for Israel yet (at least in the literature I have checked). But its presence there shouldn't be too surprising as it can be found in Syria and Saudi Arabia :)

Edited by Piluca_Alvarez on 27-11-2016 22:19

Posted by Armen Seropian on 28-11-2016 16:31

So, your fly should be indeed Heteralonia aeaca :) Congratulations for the finding! It doesn't seem to have been reported for Israel yet (at least in the literature I have checked). But its presence there shouldn't be too surprising as it can be found in Syria and Saudi Arabia :)

Well, know I see, why I wasn't able to find this fly (it was not mentioned in the Israel's bombyliidae checklist) :)
Thank's for the help and explanation, Piluca! |t