I’m back from Costa Rica, and largely caught up on research, photos, and everyday life, so it’s time to post answers to all of the bug of the day quizzes and award BioPoints to those correct answers!
Day one and no points to give out! Good guesses from Julie and Miles, but this is actually a Shore Fly (Ephydridae) of the subfamily Hydrelliinae. Shore flies are notoriously diverse, and small, but the shape of the head and face are what I use to recognize this family.
Here we go, some points to give out: Miles claims all 22 points for his answer of Stilt-legged fly (Micropezidae) in the subfamily Taeniapterinae. Although the defining characters of the Taeniapterinae are hidden by the angle of the photo (there is a fan of bristles on the side of fly that is a dead giveaway), the leg-waving behaviour demonstrated here and my affinity for this subfamily are likely what Miles based his guess on. This is actually a species of the genus Calosphen, one of the many genera that requires further taxonomic study in the Micropezidae.
I always knew flower flies got a lot of attention, so there’s no surprise that people did so well with their ID’s here! Julie scores 22 points, I’ll give Miles and Ais 2 each for the other common name (hover flies), and another 2 to Miles for his generic identification of Toxomerus (he could have had more if he didn’t add an ‘s’ to the plural genera, he should know better…).
Continuing with the Syrphid theme, Miles pulls in another 22 points, and I’ll give Rob 5 points for coming up with the correct genus. This has to be one of the most stunning flower flies I’ve seen and photographed, not only with the eyes and metallic colouring, but also with the microsculpture of the exoskeleton (barely visible on the thorax and the face).
So, what colour was this little grasshopper?
How about pink and green! Hard to believe, but no one guessed either of these colours, although I’ll give Ted 2 pts for being in the correct colour family on one of his guesses.
Everything’s coming up Miles thus far, and he picks up another 7 points for correctly identifying these as treehoppers (Membracidae). Ted goes above and beyond however and nails the tribe (Ceresini) and the genus (Poppea), earning him an additional 10 points. As for hypotheses on the the extreme projections and colouration, I’ll give 5 to Miles for referencing a documentary (possibly a recent episode of The Nature of Things?) and the remaining 15 to Ted for his laundry list of deterrents and some comedy!
Miles clearly wants a framed print, and earns himself another 14 points. Ted on the other hand is showing off, and earns himself 15 points for the excellent discussion of the taxonomic status and species identification of this little beetle!
Can you guess who picked up some points here? If you guessed Miles and Ted, you’re right (but you don’t get any BioPoints, sorry). Miles’ family of choice was the stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae) while Ted chose the signal flies (Platystomatidae). What else could it have been? I would have accepted vinegar flies (Drosophilidae), fruit flies (Tephritidae) or Richardiidae (a few of which do have expanded faces, although it’s arguable whether it counts as a stalk…)
I’m starting to sound like a scratched record here, but Miles picks up another 7 points for his correct order ID (Zygentoma) and common name (Silverfish). He also mentioned the bonus word, Thysanura, the old name for the order (and which I can’t get out of my head), for a further 5 points. Although they aren’t quite as pretty as this one, silverfish are a common sight back here in Canada, usually scurrying around looking like a drop of mercury on the floors of bathrooms and kitchens.
It seems people need to brush up on their Neotropical Diptera larvae! Miles scored the right order for 2 points, but no one guessed the correct family. This is a tree-hole inhabiting Syrphidae larva, and the best guesses on subfamily are either Eristilinae (and likely the genus Copestylum) or Syrphinae (possibly the genus Xanthandrus, a specimen of which Gil successfully reared from a similar tree hole at the same locality).
Our final Costa Rican Bug of the Day, and wouldn’t you know it, Miles comes up with it again. A final 12 points to Miles for getting the superfamily (Tenebrionoidea), family (Tenebrionidae), and subfamily (Zopherinae) correct. The common name for this group are the ironclad beetles, presumably due to the extremely hard cuticle of the exoskeleton, because they don’t much look like a US civil war era battleship…
That ends the Costa Rican edition of Bug of the Day (for now, hopefully someday I’ll get back there to do some more) and it’s time to tally the points:
Miles — 105 BioPoints
Ted — 47 BioPoints
Julie — 22 BioPoints
Rob — 5 BioPoints
Ais — 2 BioPoints
Thanks to all those that played along, either by commenting or by checking each day. I know I had fun sharing some of the fantastic insects from Costa Rica and I hope that each of you enjoyed a little entomological break in your day. And remember to keep an eye on the blog for future contests and more Bugs of the Day!
Haha thanks for setting this up Morgs, it was lots of fun… 95 more till my prize:D
Fun stuff! I’ll have to pay better attention to my RSS feed next time