Nematoceran fly —aka mosquito or midge-like— sipping nectar, its head and paintbrush antennae (the size alone labels it as male: their purpose is to locate females) bobbing up and down as if listening to heavy metal. Wish I recorded a video.
It has been a while so I figured now was as good a time as any to fire it back up. I don't know for sure who this handsome stilt-legged fly is, but I love its face and its coloring.
Presumably ovipositing, otherwise I don't understand the curious dance this colourful fly was doing. Quite the display given its wing and body colours and patterns.
My favourite NZ observation on #iNaturalist from the last couple of days is this stable fly photographed at Waihi by helenmacky.
It's a handsome enough fly, and it's a good photo, but what makes it stand out is the gang of at least seven pseudoscorpions all hitching a ride on it.
These flies make me laugh so hard. They're basically a sex drive that's manifested as much eye as little fly wings can hold, all so they can find other sex drives.
Larvae of the chokecherry gall midge (Contarinia virginianiae) turn chokecherries into tasty and nutritious homes, enlarging them in the process. Open them up and voila! Orange fly babies! #FlyDay#Diptera#Cecidomyiidae#insect#gall#galls#flies
The bluest known bioluminescense of any insect is produced by larvae of a predatory keroplatid gnat, Orfelia fultoni, which lure flying insects to a sticky silk trap. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA.
Here's an insect I'd never seen before: Berkshiria albistylum. A tiny, poorly-known soldier fly. Hanging out in the yard just minding her own business.
Time to continue with more flies! This guy is from genus Cerdistus, part of a group of successful aerial predators known as robber flies. Harmless to humans, they catch other insects on the wing.
New year, new lens. The Laowa 100mm 2x macro which on the Canon includes auto-aperture. Canon D90 with an agreeable fly who posed for me. Great detail in the eyes, happy with that! #macrophotography#diptera#flies#insects
A little fly (Scathophaga?) who kept me company for a long time yesterday. It makes me very happy when a little creature like this deigns to hang out with me. I had to take the pictures with my left (non-dominant) hand because he was perched on my right hand, which made it difficult.
I've had trouble taking pictures lately. I don't know if the problem is my eyes, my hands, my imagination, or my patience.
Unknown flies with beautiful copperish colours courting and mating on the surface of a dead crab by the beach. A male was playing a song with its wing, successfully leading to mating.
... competing with wing loss in flies (flightlessness), at 25 events counted to date. Can't find an up to date citation; a neat phylogenetic tree of #Diptera marking all the apomorphic events was shown to me by Darren Williams. There's Wagner & Liebherr 1992 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/016953479290047F listing 22 insect orders with flightless species: almost all of them have species with secondary wing loss.
Flies on daisies. As much as I complain about hot weather, how I've missed the bright, sunny days when I can take a 15 minute break, walk out my door, and get pictures of flies on daisies. Underappreciated pollinators on underappreciated plants. I love them so much.
Happy #FlyDay
I haven't posted for a while again. Life is crazy. So here's a fly I know nothing about. My guess is it's a hoverfly in the genus Quichuana (rat tailed maggot fly) but don't really know. I wonder if it is mimicking a Ceoloxys bee. It even has the hairy eyes.