March Fly from Australia

bugman

October 22nd, 2010 at 7:49 am

Tags

Black winged, orange bodied flying insect
Location: Downtown Sydney, Australia
October 22, 2010 3:33 am
I can’t find a photo that quite corresponds to this bug. It, and others similar, were apparently supping nectar from the same bush as lots of bees, hover flies and the like.
Seems to have a disproportionally small head. Attached photo shows 6 live views and three post mortem.
Signature: Mike Gordon

March Fly

Hi again Mike,
Upon seeing your new photos, we now believe the letter you sent last week contained a misidentification. This is not a Sawfly, but rather, we believe, a March Fly in the family Bibionidae. Unfortunately, the Brisbane Insect Website only contains images of a species that is not your insect. Female March Flies often have significantly smaller heads and eyes than males. Some confusion may arise as the name March Fly refers to Horse Flies in Australia.

Unknown March Fly from Australia

The new photos you have sent to us should enable a conclusive identification from an expert, but we are not having much luck finding any matches in our internet searching. Perhaps one of our readers will provide an identification.

Unknown March Fly from Australia

Thanks, again, Daniel,
Following the lead that you have given me I think that I may have found it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bibio_hortulanus01.jpg
What do you think?
Mike.

Daniel,
Another link: http://www.diptera.info/photogallery.php?photo_id=910
Further defines the bug as female, as your email had suggested.
Mike.

Hello again Mike,
Biblio hortulanus appears to be a European species as indicated on this UK Insect website and it may have been introduced to Australia, or your insect may be a similar looking but distinct Australian species.

Don’t think I’ll worry about that!
Mike.

Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1

From Probably a March Fly from Australia | What's That Bug? on 22 Oct 2010 at 7:52 am ¶
[...] can be found on BugGuide.Ed. Note: Correction October 22, 2010 New information contained in a newly submitted email with better images leads us to believe this is some species of March Fly in the family Bibionidae. 0 I [...]