WTB
Location: Termeil NSW 2539
February 5, 2012 5:15 am
Hi again…this fly ?..has been hanging around,looking at me,pointed at me,shows great interest,will let me get 4ft away..hovers then darts off,comes back hovers,from 2 to 6ft off the ground,pointing toward me..,I think it lives near where I chop firewood under a large Blue Gum..seen it there twice,might get a video tomorrow.Sun shining today.Thanks.
Signature: Bugger
Bee Fly
Dear Bugger,
This is a True Bee Fly in the subfamily Bombyliinae and we found a matching image of a resting individual on the Brisbane Insect website, though it is not identified by species. The proboscis on your specimen is definitely a match to the mouth on the image we located.
Bee Fly
Large Unkown Fly
Location: South-Africa, Gauteng
February 4, 2012 4:40 pm
Dear Bugman,
I live in South Africa. We have a huge diversity in insects. I was in our town outside a clothing store, and there is this waste high, round steel barrier (about 3-4 inch wide) in front of it. As I waited outside the store an insect came and sat on this steel barrier… At very 1st I quickly thought it might be a bumble bee of some sort as it has quite a large size. It was black, very hairy and with 1 white stripe on its back above the wings. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was some sort of fly. I immediately took out my mobile phone and took 3 photos before it flew away. I have NEVER in my 30 years seen a fly like this and at such a huge size. Can you please tell me what it could be, as I think this might be a new species Insecta Diptera…
Thank you!
Signature: Eugène McLaren
Carpenter Bee Robber Fly
Dear Eugène,
This magnificent predator is a Robber Fly in the family Asilidae. We are not certain of the species, but it most closely resembles North American Robber Flies in the genus Laphria, the Bee-Like Robber Flies. On BugGuide they are described as “most species are black and yellow mimics of bumble bees or carpenter bees.” The Bee-Like Robber Flies look similar to the Bee Killers in the genus Mallophora, but they can be distinguished by their antennae. According to BugGuide, the Bee Killers are: “Large, fuzzy, bee-mimicking robber flies. Resemble Laphria, another genus of robbers that mimic bumblebees, but is even hairier and has antennae with a very thin terminal final segment, whereas Laphria has thick antennae.” Your individual has the thick antennae. Continued research revealed that this is an entirely different genus. We believe we have correctly identified your Carpenter Bee Robber Fly, Hyperechia marshalli, by a description on the Google Books Field Guide to Insects of South Africa where it is described as: “Large (wingspan 34-44 mm), stout carpenter bee-mimic, uniformly black with yellow to yellowish white band of hair on hind margin of metathorax. Legs thickly covered with long hair. Biology: “Rests and oviposits on tree trunks. Adults hunt from dead trunks bored by carpenter bees. They feed on carpenter bees and other bees and wasps. Larvae bore and live in wood tunnels in association with carpenter bee larvae, on which they are reported to feed.” We then found a matching image on Global Species. There is a nice photo on FlickR and another on ZipZode Zoo.
Carpenter Bee Robber Fly
Cambodian missionaries being eaten by mosquitoes
January 31, 2012 11:23 pm
Hi! My best friend and her family recently moved to Cambodia to minister and care for the street kids there (specifically children being held as sexual slaves)…apparently, word is out in the mosquito community that tasty Americans have moved in, because they (especially her children) are being eaten alive. She said there were around 20 of them under her two year old’s mosquito net tonight. They are, of course, using repellent, but it doesn’t seem to be helping very much. There are holes in their house so there are LOTS of bugs everywhere. Any ideas on a natural way to make their home comfortable?
Signature: Heather Wilson
male Asian Tiger Mosquito from our archives
Dear Heather,
Since you did not provide us with a photo to illustrate your question, we have found a photo of a male Asian Tiger Mosquito from our archives. It should be noted that male Mosquitoes, which can be distinguished by their bushy antennae, do not bite. The females of the species are the blood suckers. We do not have any advice regarding repelling Mosquitoes, though there are many commercial products available. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide some comments to this posting and you may be able to relay that information to the Cambodian missionaries.
¶ Posted 01 February 2012 § Mosquito ‡ ° Identification help
Location: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas NV
January 30, 2012 1:27 pm
Here are ’tipulids’ mating. I think the view of the wing venation is good enough to put it in the Phantom Crane Fly family (Ptychopteridae) as opposed to the Crane Fly family (Tipulidae). Whaddaya think?
Sorry, only one image.
Signature: Bruce Lund
Mating Crane Flies
Dear Bruce,
We are by no means experts on Crane Flies, but it is our opinion that these are not Phantom Crane Flies. We will check with Chen Young, an expert in Crane Flies, to see if he can provide a species identification.
detail Mating Crane Flies
Daniel – Thanks for the update AND for forwarding my query onwards. I
look forward to learning more.
Bruce
Chen Young identifies Crane Fly genus
Hi Daniel,
The most I can tell from the images is they are crane fly species in the genus Limnophila.
Chen
1
could not identify this fly
Location: riyadh, saudi arabia
January 24, 2012 10:39 am
i have searched the internet and asked some people but still know nothing about it,the fly interested me with its unusual wings there are picture of an insect on them. so i caught it around afternoon under a clear sky in a cold day where the temperature was 14-9 c not far from my orange tree in my home Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. thank you for this chance and any idea will be grateful.
Signature: by keyobo
Unknown Fruit Fly
Dear keyobo,
While we don’t have an actual identification, we do have an idea. In our opinion, this is a Fruit Fly in the family Tephritidae. We will link to the BugGuide page of North American species for comparison. We haven’t had any luck identifying any Egyptian possibilities. Many Fruit Flies are important agricultural pests, especially if they are introduced from exotic locations.
Fruit fly
Location: Pirituba, São Paulo, Brazil
January 6, 2012 5:27 pm
Hi, it’s me again.
As I noticed that the only photo you have of Euaresta flies is a blurry one, I’m sending this photos.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/flies/fruit-flies/page/2/
It really looks like Euaresta festiva, but I observed that the wing patterns does not match 100% and I don’t think the plant where I find them is an Ambrosia trifida. I don’t see a closer species on internet.
This canadian site is a great source to identify Tephritidae.
Signature: Cesar Crash
Fruit Fly
Hi Cesar,
Thank you for sending these images of a Brazilian Fruit Fly. We agree that your fly does resemble Euaresta festiva as pictured on BugGuide, but the range seems to be more northern, so we doubt it is a correct species match, however, it is possibly closely related.
Fruit Fly
It seems that I forgot the link. Here it is:
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/ejournal/jmhn_15/Galleries/TephritidaeWingPlates/wingalbum/wings.html.
This is another one:
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/ejournal/jmhn_15/Galleries/TephritidaeWingPlates/wingalbum/wings.html
Sorry for the english mistakes.
Fruit Fly from Brazil
Thanks for the links Cesar. Your English is fine. It is much better than our Portuguese.
1
Fly
Location: Denton, Tx
November 7, 2011 9:16 pm
What type of fly is this?
Signature: Anthony K.
Bee Fly
Dear Anthony,
This is a Bee Fly in the family Bombyliidae, a group of pollinating insects. We believe we have correctly identified your individual as a member of the genus Geron based on this image from BugGuide.
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