Africa Wild

That was also my top choice. The Root Maggot Fly description you previously wrote up as a "cf." amoena certainly fits this one. Can you enter this one as you see fit please?

Now on to that little beauty with the magical eyes you ID'd ...saw it again when I looked for more pics of the above, so was delighted you dug into its ID. See ya' tomorrow

That didn't take long - definitely a Cestrotus sp. (Lauxaniidae).

Will write it up tomorrow.

ExFmem wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2020 11:38 pm

That was also my top choice. The Root Maggot Fly description you previously wrote up as a "cf." amoena certainly fits this one. Can you enter this one as you see fit please?

Now on to that little beauty with the magical eyes you ID'd ...saw it again when I looked for more pics of the above, so was delighted you dug into its ID. See ya' tomorrow

Ok, we agree on this specimen, but I am not 100% convinced that the one we have already in the book is the same one, do you have more photos of the first one?

ExFmem wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2020 11:54 pm That didn't take long - definitely a Cestrotus sp. (Lauxaniidae).

Will write it up tomorrow.

I wonder what the purpose of these eye-stripes is? Any ideas?

Next fly chapter of the 2018 trip

ExFmem wrote: ↑Sat Aug 04, 2018 9:30 pm

fly5.jpg



fly6.jpg


Male and female (note difference in eyes)



flyduo.jpg


Pretty pitiful showing, but I still had fun waiting to see what would approach next.

For Chrysomya, there is a key with pictures of the characters, of the kind "fly-ID for idiots"

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... liphoridae

Very chick and easy - I have keyed it to C. megacephala:

Anterior thoracic spiracle is black to dark brown
Eye in male sharply demarcated, upper facets strikingly large compared to lower ones;
For both sexes, calypters mostly greyish-brown, except for contrasting white base to upper calypter.
Female frons widening in middle, edges convex.
Hyaline wing margin.


Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794)
Chrysomya megacephala is known as the ‘oriental latrine fly’ due to its habit of ovipositing in latrines and its probable origins in New Guinea. Larvae are also commonly found on human food and carrion. Due to this attraction to both faeces and food, it is considered to be a potential mechanical vector of faecal pathogens.
Chrysomya megacephala was not originally present in Africa, but since the first records in the late 1970s has spread quickly and is now present in
most of the continent.


BUT: is fly6 the same as fly5 and flyduo? - the wing base looks rather dark and one can not see the thoracic spiracle
It may be C. marginalis


And again I wonder why the males need these two-sized facets

Here are all the pics I have of the greenish fly - all taken on the same date between 1:31 PM - 1:53 PM. There were obviously at least two, but I have no idea if any of them are the exact same fly as another. Big help, I know.

ExFmem wrote: ↑Tue Jun 16, 2020 9:34 pm Here are all the pics I have of the greenish fly - all taken on the same date between 1:31 PM - 1:53 PM. There were obviously at least two, but I have no idea if any of them are the exact same fly as another. Big help, I know.

I am certain that the last one is another sp.
Have added it to Regal Blowfly Chrysomya marginalis.

Not sure about this one, looks again different.




And the other images are C. megacephala.


Interesting bit on the eyes. I found similar info re the mayflies. The males need their sophisticated eyes to recognize females which swarm in big crowds and the males need upward vision.
But it's still strange. Do all male flies fly low and need to look at the high flying females ? Do they approach females from underneath?

And the stripy or otherwise patterned eyes of flies (but also on grasshoppers) must have a purpose, maybe these pigments act as a filter
And then we have some wasps with yellow eyes (have seen one yellow-eyed one here)

These flies are difficult, so now an ant intermezzo
(do you have another 100 flies?)

Here we have


https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic. ... 74#p391174

a Platythyrea sp. A very interesting genus, some catch beetle and bug and some don't have a queen.

Maybe we can narrow down to species level.

https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Platythyrea
https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Key_to_Afr ... ea_workers

7 spp. recorded from South Africa:
Platythyrea arnoldi (from the coastal northern KZN)
Platythyrea cooperi (from KZN coast)
Platythyrea cribrinodis (KZN hinterland)
Platythyrea lamellosa (the most common one; from KNP and widespread)
Platythyrea matopoensis (SA and Zim but without detail on locations)
Platythyrea modesta (from KNP and elsewhere)
Platythyrea schultzei (from KNP, Limpopo, Zim and north Nam)

The candidates:
Platythyrea lamellosa does not have red legs
Petiole long and narrow, width/length index <64; mesonotum distinctly impressed over its whole length .
https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Platythyrea_lamellosa

Platythyrea matopoensis: no info
https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Platythyrea_matopoensis

Platythyrea modesta, an arboreal foraging ponerine ant, single workers mastered large prey, but were unable to retrieve them. They therefore recruited nestmates that either carved up the prey on the spot, and then solitarily retrieved pieces of prey, or consumed a part of the prey directly. Nevertheless, in most situations entire prey were consumed on the spot by recruited workers that, in certain cases, even transported larvae from the nest to the prey. In nature, the latter behavior resembles emigration.
Does have red legs
Posterodorsal extremity of petiolar node with a sharply projecting margin that include the 2 lateral teeth or angles and a low median tooth or lobe that overhangs the concave posterior face; mandible without dorsolateral groove
https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Platythyrea_modesta

Platythyrea schultzei does have red legs
Posterodorsal extremity of petiolar node between lateral teeth rounding downward into posterior face, or at least without a sharp projecting margin; mandible near base with a strong dorsolateral groove
with many conspicuous large punctures on petiole and other dorsal surfaces
https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Platythyrea_schultzei

Do you have more photos?

A smallish butterfly in Nelspruit - 3cm

Bright lavender inside the wings!

Richprins wrote: ↑Wed Jun 17, 2020 5:45 pm A smallish butterfly in Nelspruit - 3cm

Bright lavender inside the wings!

Zizeeria knysna knysna - African grass blue




well done