Tachinus rufipes

Apparently the commonest member of the genus.

This was swpet from Meadowsweet and identified using the Hackston keys. I didn't think the punctures on the pronotum were significantly finer than those on the elytra, and certainly wouldn't describe them as barely visible, but other characters eliminated scapularis which was the alternative here. The 6th exposed tergite wasn't exactly as shown in Hackston and coleonet.de for rufipes but in view of the other characters including the aedeagus I am happy to call it rufipes.

male Tachinus rufipes showing pronotal punctures (2 views), elytra (2 views), tomentum patches, sides of 3rd to 5th exposed sternites, aedeagus (side and flat) and 8th tergite, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 19th April 2021

This one turned up in my garden moth trap and I wasn't expecting it to be another rufipes as it wasn't black, although it was dark and Hackston does allow for rare individuals with pale sides to the pronotum and paler elytra. Again the punctures on the pronotum were not significantly finer than those on the elytra and the 6th exposed tergite wasn't exactly as shown in Hackston and coleonet.de for rufipes, but the other characters didn't add up to anything else and the aedeagus matched the other one.

male Tachinus rufipes showing pronotal and elytral punctures, elytra sculpture, tomentum patches, bristles at side of 5th exposed sternites, aedeagus (side and flat) and 8th tergite, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 22nd June 2022

This was in a pitfall trap and was identified using Duff. Duff shows sternites 7 for male Tachinus (and tergites 8 for females) so that's what I've included a photo of here this time.

male Tachinus rufipes showing maxillary palp, elytral microsculpture, abdominal lateral setae, pronotum, sternite 7 and aedeagus, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 4th-5th April 2025

This was in the same set of pitfall traps. I didn't check the genitalia this time as I felt confident enough from the external feature that the ID was correct. I did hesitate slightly when keying it as it seemed to have a comb of spinules near its apex as in genus Sepedophilus, but the orientation of the tibia was such that I wasn't convinced this was external. Anyway, it had clear paratergites on most of the abdominal segments so it couldn't be Sepedophilus.

male Tachinus rufipes showing elytral microsculpture, fore tibia, maxillary palp, elytral microsculpture, abdominal lateral setae, basal tergites (with left elytron and wing removed and right elytron pulled out slightly to reveal tomentum patches) and pronotal microsculpture, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 11th-12th May 2025