The Society for the study of flies (Diptera)
Affiliated to the British Entomological and Natural History Society (BENHS)
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#1 2018-11-02 22:52:46
- dbsmith
- Registered user
- Name: Array Array
- Registered: 2014-01-20
- Posts: 10
Fly family challenge
As a way of getting my head back into flies (after a lapse of many years) I thought I would try and identify a fly in each family over the next calendar year ..... has anyone else tried this? Any tips? Anyone else want to join in the fun?
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#2 2018-11-03 14:57:17
- Howard Bentley
- Committee
- Name: Howard Bentley
- Registered: 2008-07-07
- Posts: 795
Re: Fly family challenge
According to the Checklist there are six families with only one British species each, and some of these are real rarities. We have over 100 families on the British list, and I don't usually see more than about 60 in any one year. Your idea is an interesting challenge, though. Good luck!
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#3 2018-11-04 12:44:44
- dbsmith
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- Name: Array Array
- Registered: 2014-01-20
- Posts: 10
Re: Fly family challenge
Thanks - I guess my challenge will be to see as many families as possible rather than all of them! I knew (as a beekeeper) that I would struggle with Braulidae ... and plenty others no doubt! My 1970 Handbook for the identification of British insects, Diptera lists 84 families - do I need a newer version or will that do the job for most things I will come across (in Scotland ....)?
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#5 2019-03-10 20:13:03
- dbsmith
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- Name: Array Array
- Registered: 2014-01-20
- Posts: 10
Re: Fly family challenge
Just an update on the progress of my fly family challenge so far for the year - I am now at 8 families, none of which are ones I am very familiar with, so it is proving useful to get my head around the diversity of the order. I have been writing about each family as I find an example in a blog at theyearofthefly.home.blog - and enjoying that almost as much as the fly hunting!
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#6 2019-04-23 22:08:26
- dbsmith
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- Name: Array Array
- Registered: 2014-01-20
- Posts: 10
Re: Fly family challenge
My fly family challenge has reached 20 families with Syrphidae - and at this stage it looks like 40+ might be possible. I have a few more trap ideas to try out, and plenty of common families that I still haven't come across (Tipulidae!). You can follow my progress on my blog where I write about each family as I find it ... it's at http://theyearofthefly.home.blog and the latest one is "Syrphidae - super sleuth" - whatever can that be about?
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#7 2019-04-24 09:23:47
Re: Fly family challenge
Do you have Pjotr Oosterbroek's "The European Families of the Diptera: Identification, diagnosis, biology"?
He's kindly made it downloadable free at https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio … he_Diptera
It's a nice thing to have as a hardback book too and is a current favourite.
Of course this will raise your challenge by one or two Families (e.g. Diopsidae)
Darwyn Sumner
DF Bulletin Editor, Scheme Organiser: Stilt & Stalk Flies
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