AuthorBelshaw, R.
Year1993
TitleTachinid Flies (Diptera: Tachinidae)
ISBN0 901546 81 X
SeriesHandbooks for the Identification of British Insects
TypeBook/Report
How CompleteCovers all UK species known at the time
SourceHandbooks for the Identification of British Insects, Vol 10, Part 4a(i), 169pp, The Royal Entomological Society of London
IllustrationsLine drawings beside the keys, more line drawings including genitalia and half-tone photos thereof, at the back
Review (by Malcolm Storey)

User-friendly dichotomous key - a most welcome replacement for the earlier RES Handbook covering this group.

The genitalia drawings are simply outlines and should be used in conjunction with the more life-like figures in the previous Handbook (van Emden, 1954).

The Tachinidae web-site maintains a list of new species added since Belshaw.

Errata, Corrigenda & Comments

If you get to *Leucostoma simplex* (couplet 101), check the subscutellum - it might be the common *Rhinophora lepida*! (Thanks to Chris Raper for that one)

P56: *Siphona*, couplet 8: *S. cristata* (as well as *S. geniculata* and *S. setosa*) can also have a pair of central marginals on T2. (Thanks to Theo Zeegers on Diptera.info for this.)

Examine Stereo Microscope
Specimen PreparationPinned specimens
Identification difficultyMostly straightforward, though some genera difficult
Website urltachinidae.org.uk/site/newspecies.php

Notes & PurposeStatusTaxonEnglishClassification
For identificationCurrentTACHINIDAEparasitoid fliesAnimalia: Diptera
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