Hemichroa australis

I initially keyed this to genus using Wright. In the family key I had to ignore the fact that the front tibial spurs wre clearly unequal - I'd had this problem before and recalled that the unequal spurs option led to wood-wasps which this clearly wasn't. In removing the wings for a closer look I had damaged the anal cell of the forewing which made it hard to judge if the basal loop was enclosed or not. At this point the second forewing was still attached so I carefully examined that one, but despite my care as I tried to gently lift the wing to see the base properly I somehow managed to tear it in exactly the same place! The basal loop seemed to be partly present but I wasn't convinced it was completely enclosed, so although I initially keyed it the correct way (as enclosed) I did so with some doubt. Arriving at the genus Hemichroa I searched for pictures of the two Hemichroa species and made the rookie mistake of only looking at pictures of females and as they looked completely different deducing that it wasn't Hemichroa. After wasting too much time keying it as if the basal loop wasn't enclosed, and puzzling over whether or not Meosneura opaca could have so little orange on the thorax (the antennae were wrong as well), I eventually went back and had a more careful look at Hemichroa. Using the RES key it easily resolved as a male australis.

The keys don't require sight of the penis and don't include diagrams, but I thought I might as well have a look as I'd already damaged the specimen. Lacourt includes a diagram for the other Hemichroa (crocea) but not australis. Mine doesn't closely resemble the diagram for crocea - it actually looks disturbingly close to his diagram for one or two of the Nematinus species. that made me double-check where the keys lead to Nematinus to makes sure I hadn't messed that up, but it seems that that genus is ruled out by a combination of veins 2RM and 2R both being clearly present.

male Hemichroa australis showing wings, front tibial spurs and aedeagus, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 11th August 2023

This came to light and this time I managed to identify it a bit more quickly than before. Again I wasn't quite sure if the basal loop was enclosed or not so tried keying it either way - the open option led to a dead end.

male Hemichroa australis showing wings and aedeagus, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 5th August 2024