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tanghb
04-Sep-2007, 12:39 PM
Could someone please help with the ID of these two moths? Thanks!


http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/tanghb2/2007_sg_Nature/20070825_1101d_MacRitchie_Prunus_Tr.jpg
No. 1a

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/tanghb2/2007_sg_Nature/20070825_1058e_MacRitchie_Prunus_Tr.jpg
No. 1b

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/tanghb2/2007_sg_Nature/20070901_1214_Sime_Rifle_Range_Unkn.jpg
No. 2

hkmoths
04-Sep-2007, 02:23 PM
No. 1 is a most amazing fly!

No. 2 is Amata stellaris (Moths of Borneo, part 6, p. 13); Arctiidae, Syntominae.

cheers,

Roger.

Snowywolf
04-Sep-2007, 06:31 PM
can No 1 fly PROPERLY in the first place?:what:

wow.. the antennas are like..
like.. two huge booms stuck on my head..

Painted Jezebel
04-Sep-2007, 07:52 PM
That fly reminds me of a 'joke' photo I saw recently (which I DO NOT approve of, by the way). It is obviously two pipecleaners attached to a weevil head attached to a cactus leaf with two fly's wings added on for show!

tanghb
05-Sep-2007, 12:14 AM
That's really a very strange looking fly! Besides the antennae, the abdomen also looks very strange.

No, it didn't fly. I wonder if it ever could. It was only walking clumsily.

Painted Jezebel
05-Sep-2007, 07:51 AM
Tang, do you need an ID for the fly for record purposes? If so, I can post it on Insectnet. One can usually get at least a partial ID there, and a bit of googling thereafter normally works. I, for one, would be very intetrested.

272

tanghb
05-Sep-2007, 12:36 PM
Tang, do you need an ID for the fly for record purposes? If so, I can post it on Insectnet. One can usually get at least a partial ID there, and a bit of googling thereafter normally works. I, for one, would be very intetrested.

272

Yes, please! I could not find anything close to the strange looking fly in my guide books.

atronox
05-Sep-2007, 01:05 PM
Do flies have plumed antennae?

tanghb
05-Sep-2007, 11:43 PM
Do flies have plumed antennae?

Moth flies (http://bugguide.net/node/view/8646) (Family Psychodidae) and Mosquitoes (http://www.cirrusimage.com/flies_Aedes_vexans_mosquito.htm) (Family Culicidae) do.

atronox
06-Sep-2007, 01:30 AM
Moth flies (http://bugguide.net/node/view/8646) (Family Psychodidae) and Mosquitoes (http://www.cirrusimage.com/flies_Aedes_vexans_mosquito.htm) (Family Culicidae) do. Cool! Can't get over the fact that such strange things exist.

Painted Jezebel
07-Sep-2007, 09:24 AM
I've had 2 replies to my query. The first suggested a male of the Coccidae family (Scaly-bugs), which is very doubtful. The second suggested one of the Strepsiptera (Twisted-wings, named after the fact that the wings of the males twist while in flight). These are endoparasites which live in solitary bees and wasps primarily. The females are wingless, so this would be a male. The only problem with this is that the largest they ever get is 4mm in length, and I don't know the size of this one. Also, I have extensively Googled this family, and failed to come up with a match, though found lots of fascinating information. (There are over 400 species)

I'm sorry, Tang, but unless they come up with further suggestions, it will have to remain a UFO.

273

tanghb
07-Sep-2007, 10:10 AM
Thanks a lot for your help, Les.

The fly has a body length of about 8mm, excluding antennae.

Painted Jezebel
07-Sep-2007, 10:22 AM
Thanks, Tang. That rules out the Strepsiptera. I'll add the size to my request and see if anything else comes up.

273

tanghb
07-Sep-2007, 11:49 PM
Could be Drosicha corpulenta (http://www.luxflower.net/shownews.asp?id=856) (Family Margarodidae).
The picture on the linked page shows a male on the left and a female on the right.
So it's not a fly.

Painted Jezebel
08-Sep-2007, 09:46 AM
Nice one, Tang. I had been concentrating on the Homoptera, as opposed to the true flies (Diptera), but it is a very complicated group. It certainly looks like a Drosicha sp. (Had not managed to find a pic of a male on the web, only the wingless females!)

273

hkmoths
08-Sep-2007, 09:55 AM
Well done, Tang!

Anther site with info. for Taiwan is at http://sishou.artspacemedia.com/photolist/species.php?SpeciesID=385

I'll stick to doing the moths!!

cheers, :cheers:

Roger.

atronox
08-Sep-2007, 02:21 PM
Does anyone know why it has such a strange abdomen?

tanghb
08-Sep-2007, 05:55 PM
Thanks Les and Roger.

While I'll also stick to doing the dragonflies, I would get curious about the amazingly looking insects of the other orders.