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Soldier Fly

Hermetia sp.

Published on Project Noah
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39.6794, -0.670312

Field Notes

Habitat:

Garden pond on limestone outcrop in foothills of Los Serranos mountains.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (5)
andrecoppe
Sorry. I don't know enough to go further on identification. Anyway, it's worth considering sexual dimorphism and development phase within a specie to assign variations you could see.
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
Thanks Andre and John for the help. To me there is a difference in the colour and shape of the abdomen tip, this one being orange and conical almost to a point and the other one is dark and much blunter. Is there any significance in that?
andrecoppe
I agree with John La Salle. :) My guess is the same given for one of your previous spotting, since I think they are the same specie. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1846906002 I hope this helps.
John La Salle
This is a fly not a wasp. I am guessing a soldier fly (Stratiomyidae) - although always better to have a fly person pitch in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratiomyidae
andrecoppe
There is an easy way to distinguish them (if you ignore exceptions). Flies have only a pair of wings and not two pairs as other insects.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Biodiversidad en España/Spain
Mission
Mission WILD
Mission
2015 Best Wildlife Photo
Photographed
PublishedSeptember 22, 2015

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