Hi Phil, the furca should be within the tip of the abdomen.
If you download the recording scheme ID guide to Sargus and look for female of S. cuprarius on page 9, there is an image of a dissected furca provided by Richard Dickson. Download from www.brc.ac.uk/soldierflies-and-allies/id-guides
The only definition I can find for "furca" is "In most Nematocera and Orthorrhapha, the sternite 9 is reduced to a V-shaped or Y-shaped sclerite and is called genital fork or vaginal apodeme or furca" (which is taken from www.giand.it/diptera/morph/). I don't know what its function is, would be interested to know if anyone can tell us.
Hi Phil, the furca should be within the tip of the abdomen.
If you download the recording scheme ID guide to Sargus and look for female of S. cuprarius on page 9, there is an image of a dissected furca provided by Richard Dickson. Download from www.brc.ac.uk/soldierflies-and-allies/id-guides
The only definition I can find for "furca" is "In most Nematocera and Orthorrhapha, the sternite 9 is reduced to a V-shaped or Y-shaped sclerite and is called genital fork or vaginal apodeme or furca" (which is taken from www.giand.it/diptera/morph/). I don't know what its function is, would be interested to know if anyone can tell us.