Heleomyzid fly - Austroleria cf. truncata
A regular heleomyzid visitor to my backyard this winter. An Austroleria species - only two described, and both rather similar. A. extensa is descriped as haveing a broad, somewhat ill-defined, dark median stripe on it's back (Kristi's Austroleria seems best to fit this), whereas A. truncata has this stripe very narrow and well defined. This genus is very similar to Diplogeomyza in many aspects (see Mark's pic) however the former has three dorsocentral bristle pairs, the latter has four with an extra pair closer to the head.
A. extensa has been reared from a Boletus fungus. The flies here were photographed on different days in the past month. All found among very wet decaying leaf debris, and all within a very short distance to a particular cat dung - though not on the dung. Bodylengths usually around 4 to 5mm.
Reference
McAlpine, D.K. 1967. The Australian species of Diplogeomyza and allied genera (Diptera, Heleomyzidae). Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 92: 74-106.
Heleomyzid fly - Austroleria cf. truncata
A regular heleomyzid visitor to my backyard this winter. An Austroleria species - only two described, and both rather similar. A. extensa is descriped as haveing a broad, somewhat ill-defined, dark median stripe on it's back (Kristi's Austroleria seems best to fit this), whereas A. truncata has this stripe very narrow and well defined. This genus is very similar to Diplogeomyza in many aspects (see Mark's pic) however the former has three dorsocentral bristle pairs, the latter has four with an extra pair closer to the head.
A. extensa has been reared from a Boletus fungus. The flies here were photographed on different days in the past month. All found among very wet decaying leaf debris, and all within a very short distance to a particular cat dung - though not on the dung. Bodylengths usually around 4 to 5mm.
Reference
McAlpine, D.K. 1967. The Australian species of Diplogeomyza and allied genera (Diptera, Heleomyzidae). Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 92: 74-106.