Geron beefly
A Geron sp., bodylength 3.5-4mm, wing length ~5mm. Photographed in my backyard, Hobart, Tasmania.
Determined using both Yeates (1994) and Hull (1973) - the former reference is a monstrous paper on the cladistics and classification of Bombyliidae (free to download but beware it's 40MB).
There's also a good free paper on Geron spp. of Australia and the Pacific - Evenhuis (1979) (4.4MB).
Having the first antennal segment clearly more than three times as long as the second places this in subgenus Plichtamyia. There are two Tasmanian species - G. (Plichtamyia) dispar & G. (Plichtamyia) nigrocciput. The silver spot below the occellar tubercle on the head (see second shot below), and the two toned haltere knobs (dark above, light below) are two characters of a few which are easily seen and only belong to the former species.
Geron beefly
A Geron sp., bodylength 3.5-4mm, wing length ~5mm. Photographed in my backyard, Hobart, Tasmania.
Determined using both Yeates (1994) and Hull (1973) - the former reference is a monstrous paper on the cladistics and classification of Bombyliidae (free to download but beware it's 40MB).
There's also a good free paper on Geron spp. of Australia and the Pacific - Evenhuis (1979) (4.4MB).
Having the first antennal segment clearly more than three times as long as the second places this in subgenus Plichtamyia. There are two Tasmanian species - G. (Plichtamyia) dispar & G. (Plichtamyia) nigrocciput. The silver spot below the occellar tubercle on the head (see second shot below), and the two toned haltere knobs (dark above, light below) are two characters of a few which are easily seen and only belong to the former species.