Lonchoptera

I have a male Lonchoptera which keys out in Ken Smith's Handbook to L. furcata.  It's difficult to compare his genitalia figures to my photo, so confirmation would be welcome.  KS says that males are rare, but he was writing in1969 - there may be more evidence around since then.

Comments

It's hard to tell from your picture, but I think this could be L. lutea. Are you sure about the anteroventral on the distal half of the middle tibia (couplet 1)? Also the verticals are pale yellow in L. bifurcata, and yours look rather dark.

Thanks Howard.  Admittedly I'm uncertain about the anteroventral on the middle tibia because of the way the legs are folded.  But the killer seemed to me to be that at couplet 4 neither option works: the sctellum is not black and the vein M1 goes far beyond the base of the M-fork.  So L. furcata seemd most likely (or the least unlikely) becaus the genitalia are not like fig 10.

Could you perhaps be misinterpreting couplet 4? I can't see the wing venation on your picture, but couplet 4 refers to the length of vein A1, not M1. Compare your wing to Smith's figure 2 on p.2 of the handbook. If yours is radically different, then I give up. Good luck!