The entirety of Myxosargus nigricormis‘ Wikipedia entry reads (at time of writing): “A species of soldier fly in the family Stratiomyidae.” INaturalist puts its range at most of the eastern United States (and of course Florida). Soldier flies in general are somewhat large and can look imposing (some mimic wasps), but they are usually harmless…
Tag: diptera
Culex erraticus
This mosquito (thankfully a male, note the plumed antennae) is Culex erraticus, no common name. It is widespread over the southeastern United States, and while in Florida the females primarily bite birds and reptiles, they do of course also feed on mammals and also on people (usually me). They actually generally feed on birds during…
Four-Spotted Aphid Fly
This lovely little syrphid fly, with the distinctive white spots on a dark abdomen, has a couple of common names: four-spotted hover fly, four-speckled aphid fly, and various combinations thereof. Its Latin name is Dioprosopa clavata. Its body shape and coloration somewhat mimic that of a wasp, but this fly is harmless to humans and…
Mexican Cactus Fly
This huge, imposing (and absolutely harmless to humans) big, black fly is the Mexican cactus fly (or Mexican flower fly), Copestylum mexicanum. It is named because the larvae feed on rotting cacti (and the adults, as you might guess from the above photo, visit flowers). This individual is about 13-15 mm long, a very big…
Cattail Mosquito
It’s hard for me to catch mosquitoes and flies with my big camera rig. Generally they don’t like being approached by the Big Black Eye and take off, at speed. I have so many photos of places where a bug just was! I caught this female cattail mosquito (Coquillettidia perturbans) on a very chilly morning…
African Fig Fly
This handsome orange fruit fly (or vinegar fly) with its distinctive white “racing stripes” is the African fig fly, Zaprionus indianus. This invasive and destructive species has made its way from its native west Africa through much of India, Europe, and South America, arriving in Florida in 2005. The females lay eggs in overripe fruit,…
Soldier Fly (Sargus fasciatus)
This large, strikingly-colored fly (metallic red/purple thorax, striped abdomen, white “racing” stripe and white spot between the eyes) is about 1 cm long. It’s one of many species of soldier flies, in the family Stratiomyidae. I wish I could say more about it, but here is the complete Wikipedia entry (other flies in the family…
Green Hoverfly
This shiny little marble is an adult female Ornidia obesa (most likely)…a green hover fly, or syrphid fly. (Like horse flies, female green hover flies have widely separated eyes while males have contiguous eyes, giving them a wrap-around sunglasses look.) I find these little things charming, and they’re apparently fearless: this one hung around to…
Mantis Fly
Okay, technically, this is a shore fly, and it’s definitely a fly, not a mantis, but what else can you call this little dude? Meet Ochthera tuberculata, one of about 13 North American species, and 40 species worldwide, of “shore flies with raptorial forelegs”. (They’re not technically “mantis flies”, because that’s an entirely separate family…
Stilt-Legged Fly
Stilt-legged flies (in the family Micropezidae) make their living by pretending to be other insects — in this case, an ant. The forelegs of this stilt-legged fly (Taeniaptera trivittata) are bright white to attract attention, and the fly holds them out straight in front of it like the antennae of an ant. Other Micropezidae pretend…
Yellow Fever Mosquito
Mosquitoes love me; I loathe mosquitoes. I don’t get a lot of photos of them, because if I venture out of my house I must be coated in an inch-thick layer of DEET to repel them. I try to maintain an indifferent, if not affectionate, attitude toward bothersome, scary, or venomous species, but — and…
Stiletto Fly
About the size of a house fly but unaccountably much longer in the abdomen, with long legs, and in color resembling a flesh fly (red eyes, black and white striped thorax, black and white striped abdomen), this is in fact a stiletto fly, Penniverpa festina. You’d think something this big would have more than a…
Love Bug
If you live in the Gulf Coast, especially Florida, you’ve heard of the “love bug” (Plecia nearctica). They are small, relatively inoffensive flies, but due to their habit of locking together during reproduction (causing the joined pair to fly very erratically and slowly right around bumper-level), during their most amorous times of year they seem…
Anthrax Argyropygus
This half-inch black fly with half-black, half-transparent wings is a bee fly (family Bombyllidae), which, of course, mimics a bee. Some members of this family look even more like bees, with striped orange and black fuzzy abdomens; many seem to have followed this theme of black and/or silver “fur” instead. You can tell this is…
Longlegged Fly
Technically, “longlegged fly” describes the family, not this individual species, but that’s the common name for Condylostylus longicornis. This small, iridescent green fly with red eyes is tiny — about 5mm (I need a better measurement, I describe everything as 5mm) — and fast! This individual really, really wanted to sit on that plant, but…
Palpada Pusilla
Another fly with no common name. Do I make a “hoverfly” page which will eventually have 6,000+ photos in it, or a separate page for each species of hoverfly? Decisions, decisions. Meet Palpada pusilla, a fly in the family Syrphidae. Syrphid flies, (or flower flies, or hoverflies), are generally beneficial pollinators as adults, eating primarily…