| Eliozeta pellucens (Fallen, 1820) |
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Scientific name: Eliozeta pellucens (Fallen, 1820) Common name: French name: Order: Diptera Family: Tachinidae Wingspan : 5 to 7 mm Biotope: Woodland edges, hedgerows, flower meadows. Geographic area: Europe, central Asia, Siberia. Observation period : May to September. |
Eliozeta pellucens is a small fly observed on umbellifers or other flowers where it comes to feed on nectar. You can tell it apart with its third article of the antenna (the one which shows the arista) being very elongated and with its arista (small bristle on the third article of the antenna) being thickened. You can tell males apart with their golden thorax. Females are darker. For information, the similar species belong to the Eliozeta or Clytiomya genus which are very difficult to differentiate. For this you need to count the bristles on the Katepisternum (plate down on the thorax side, vertically aligned on the costal edge of the wings, just ahead of the median leg base).Two bristles on the Katepisternum indicate the Clytiomya genus, more than two bristles indicate the Eliozeta genus. I have only found Eliozeta huello listed in France as other species of the Eliozeta genus. Larvae parasite shield bugs of the Pentadomidae family. |
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The elongated third article of the antenna and the thickened arista clearly indicate Eliozeta pellucens. The golden coloured thorax indicates one male. The Katepisternum is not visible and you can guess that high quality pictures are required to tell genus apart when the antennae do not match Eliozeta pellucens. |
André Bon February 2013