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Index of Subjects --Apple-Mail-35--68013331 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Hi Blake, On 13-Oct-06, at 10:41 AM, Blake Maybank wrote: > While Hans Toom and Gary Murray were busy photographing birds and > scenery on Seal Island this past weekend, I took a lead from Angus > Maclean, and looked down. The sheep on Seal greatly restrict the > presence of flowers, but there were a few goldenrods that eluded > the bovine teeth, and there were large numbers of colourful flies > feeding on the nectar. > > I have tried to identify the flies using the BugGuide on the > internet (it is a fine site). I have placed images of the two > different flies I photographed on the following web page: > > http://maybank.tripod.com/naturens/inverts.htm > > I thought one was a Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax), and I used the > following page for comparisons: > > http://bugguide.net/node/view/7183 > > The following image seemed a very close match: > > http://bugguide.net/node/view/47586 > > The other, smaller fly, I have identified as a Transverse Flower > Fly (Eristalis transversa), and for this I used the following page: > > http://bugguide.net/node/view/9099 > > The following image seemed a close match: > > http://bugguide.net/node/view/28797 > > However, these flies seem to be a tricky group, so if anyone finds > a mistake in my identification, I'd love to hear about it. The first one is certainly Eristalis tenax Linnaeus 1758, The second species may well be Eristalis transversus Wiedemann 1830 (there are no specimens of it in our collection, but that may not be particularly indicative). Note that the name is transversus. You can always check Nomina Nearctic for the correct nomenclature: http://www.nearctica.com/nomina/diptera/dipsyrph.htm Other species of Eristalis that are known from NS and are in our collection are: Eristalis arbustorum Linnaeus 1758 Eristalis compactus Walker 1849 Eristalis dimidiatus Wiedemann 1830 But your specimen is none of the above and does more closely resemble E. transversus. I nice sighting! Chris _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. Christopher Majka - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3A6 (902) 424-6435 Email <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. --Apple-Mail-35--68013331 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 <HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; = -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Blake,<DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On = 13-Oct-06, at 10:41 AM, Blake Maybank wrote:</DIV><BR = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"> While = Hans Toom and Gary Murray were busy photographing birds and scenery on = Seal Island this past weekend, I took a lead from Angus Maclean, and = looked down.=A0=A0 The sheep on Seal greatly restrict the presence of = flowers, but there were a few goldenrods that eluded the bovine teeth, = and there were large numbers of colourful flies feeding on the nectar.=A0=A0= <BR><BR> I have tried to identify the flies using the BugGuide on the = internet (it is a fine site).=A0=A0 I have placed images of the two = different flies I photographed on the following web page:<BR><BR> <A = href=3D"http://maybank.tripod.com/naturens/inverts.htm" = eudora=3D"autourl"> = http://maybank.tripod.com/naturens/inverts.htm</A><BR><BR> I thought one = was a Drone Fly (<I>Eristalis tenax</I>), and I used the following page = for comparisons:<BR><BR> <A href=3D"http://bugguide.net/node/view/7183" = eudora=3D"autourl"> http://bugguide.net/node/view/7183</A><BR><BR> The = following image seemed a very close match:<BR><BR> <A = href=3D"http://bugguide.net/node/view/47586" eudora=3D"autourl"> = http://bugguide.net/node/view/47586</A><BR><BR> The other, smaller fly, = I have identified as a Transverse Flower Fly (<I>Eristalis = transversa</I>), and for this I used the following page:<BR><BR> <A = href=3D"http://bugguide.net/node/view/9099" eudora=3D"autourl"> = http://bugguide.net/node/view/9099</A><BR><BR> The following image = seemed a close match:<BR><BR> <A = href=3D"http://bugguide.net/node/view/28797" eudora=3D"autourl"> = http://bugguide.net/node/view/28797</A><BR><BR> However, these flies = seem to be a tricky group, so if anyone finds a mistake in my = identification, I'd love to hear about it.=A0=A0<BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span">The first one is certainly=A0<I>Eristalis = tenax</I> Linnaeus 1758, The second species may well be=A0<I>Eristalis = transversus</I> Wiedemann 1830 (there are no specimens of it in our = collection, but that may not be particularly indicative). Note that the = name is <I>transversus</I>. You can always check Nomina Nearctic for the = correct nomenclature:</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><A = href=3D"http://www.nearctica.com/nomina/diptera/dipsyrph.htm">http://www.n= earctica.com/nomina/diptera/dipsyrph.htm</A></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span">Other species of <I>Eristalis</I> that are = known from NS and are in our collection are:</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span"><I>Eristalis arbustorum</I> Linnaeus = 1758</SPAN></DIV><DIV><SPAN class=3D"Apple-style-span"><I>Eristalis = compactus</I> Walker 1849</SPAN></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span"><I>Eristalis dimidiatus</I> Wiedemann = 1830</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span">But your specimen is none of the above and = does more closely resemble <I>E. transversus</I>.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I nice = sighting!</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Chris</DIV><BR><DIV> <P = style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px = Times">_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._= ._._._.</FONT&