Tabanid PEET Group at ICD7

The Tabanid PEET group is gathered in San José Costa Rica for the 7th International Congress of Dipterology. Team members gave talks in the symposium "Phylogeny and taxonomy within the "orthorrhaphous" Brachycera" on Tuesday, highlighting progress in the Tabanid PEET project.

The team celebrated a successful day:

 (l-r: )M. Turcatel, G. Kampmeier, K. Bayless, D. Yeates, B. Wiegmann, B. Lessard, C. Thompson, & S. Morita)

Diminutive horse fly sought: Microtabanus pygmaeus

Most horse flies noticed by humans would never be characterized as "diminutive" and if they were considered "rare," it might be more a cause for celebration than searching. But searching for live or recently collected specimens of Microtabanus pygmaeus (even the name emphasizes just how small this fly is considered among the general population of horse flies), is part of the quest of Keith Bayless, a Ph.D. candidate on our Tabanid PEET project, and the subject of his post on the NC State Insect Museum blog.

Read more and see photos of this unusual and unique horse fly in the tribe Diachlorini.