Mastodawn

Of the flies I saw today, this one is my favourite. It's the ngaro tara or three-lined Hover Fly (*Helophilus seelandicus*), a New Zealand endemic species.

I like the sleek colour pattern. It would not look out of place on a coverable sports car.

While the adult is sleek, the larva is a rat-tailed maggot with a long snorkle out its rear end that allows it to eat decomposing matter in stagnant water.

I saw this while on my weekly biodiversity run this afternoon through Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ.

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/348889144

#diptera #flies #entomology #nz #Syrphidae #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #iNaturalist

Plazi Species 2d ago

#NewSpecies!
New wormlion fly from #china just landed:

Vermitigris tsangyanggyatso

Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/6F437EBF-A2E8-5400-BC02-9B5734F6A9BE
Publication: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1276.184675
#ZooKeys #VermitigrisTsangyanggyatso

#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #fauna #invertebrates #entomology #insects #diptera #fly #wormlionflies

Plazi Species 2d ago

#NewSpecies!
New fruit fly from #india just landed:

Rhabdochaeta octomaculata

Treatment: https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AA1987FE-FFD7-C049-28AA-035CC7F8FF6E
Publication: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5750.2.4
#Zootaxa #RhabdochaetaOctomaculata

#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #fauna #invertebrates #entomology #insects #diptera #fly #fruitflies

Peter Mansfeld 3d ago

Nicht alles, was aussieht wie eine Hummel, ist auch eine. Darf ich vorstellen: eine "Hummelschwebfliege" aka "Hummelmallota" aka Mallota fuciformis.
Das war gestern mein persönlicher Erstnachweis dieser allgemein recht selten gemeldeten und im Bestand bedrohten Schwebfliegenart. Diese flog an einem einzelnen Schwarzdorn, der an einem Wegrand im Wald blühte. Der Fundort im Wald ist kein Zufall, denn die (Rattenschwanz-)Larven der Fliegen entwickeln sich wohl in (feuchtem) Holzmulm von Baumhöhlen und sind mutmaßlich mit alten Eichen- oder Auwäldern assoziiert. Aber so ganz genau weiß man das wohl gar nicht. Ich habe ungefähr eine Stunde vor dem Schwarzdorn verbracht und währenddessen kamen zwei Mallota vorbei.
Möglicherweise wird man die Art häufiger finden können, wenn man im Frühjahr blühende Rubus-Arten in oder in der Nähe von alten Laubwäldern gezielt nach hummelähnlichen Fliegen absucht.

#diptera #natur #kassel #syrphidae

Jon Sullivan 5d ago

There's a new fly in town.

While out for a run yesterday, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ, I noticed this unusual orange-headed black fly. I uploaded my photos to #iNaturalist when I got home and learned that it's the Australian Soldier Fly, *Inopus rubriceps*. This looks to be the first record of it anywhere in the South Island south of Nelson.

The species is a minor pasture pest and is well-established in NZ's North Island, where it was first seen in 1944.

As the world warms, NZ continues to fill with Australian insects. They first establish in the North Island then spread southwards. The pattern is repeating over and over. In this case, the two Australian parasitoid wasps (Neurogalesus spp.) that feed on *Inopus rubriceps* have also already established in the North Island.

*Inopus rubriceps* is a distinctive fly, especially the female which has the orange head (the male is all black). Keep an eye out and you might find some more of them.

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/347771177

#Diptera #entomology #iNaturalistNZ #invasionBiology #insects #nz #Christchurch #fly

Colin Purrington Apr 4

Found two dozen mosquito egg rafts in the mini-pond today. All Culex, I think, and all oviposited overnight. I really need to set up a camera trap to record them in the act. #pond #diptera #mosquitoes #culex #culicidae #water #biology

Colin Purrington Apr 2

Yesterday I decided to check my mini-pond for mosquito egg rafts and found 8. Two were easy to find (arrows) but the remainder were situated in little nooks obscured by plants. All Culex, I think. Each egg has a glossy apical cap filled with aggregation pheromones that induce other mosquitoes to oviposit. Pond is dosed regularly with Bti so I'm not worried about the eggs I've missed. #mosquitoes #culex #insects #diptera #pond #macrophotography

Frosch B Mar 31

es war der winzige rote klecks auf dem grünen bärlauchblatt, der meine aufmerksamkeit einfing, die erst dann entdeckte fliege machte schließlich ein krabbeltierchen-bild für den #BugOfTheDay daraus :3
da gibt es so viele so ähnlich aussehende, dass nicht zu sagen ist welche art genau das ist, ich vermute mit iNat-hilfe die

Gattung Desmometopa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmometopa

#insekten #insects #krabbeltierchen #diptera #nature #biodiversity #entomology #macro