ant type insect with black wings
Location: Lexington, KY
May 7, 2011 1:11 pm
as of yesterday, I have many of these on both of my cars and walking along the front of my painted brick house and my neighbors stone house. (I live in Lexington, KY) Thanks for helping me to identify these and possibly assist me in treatment to use if they are destructive.
Signature: Diane Davis
Picture Winged Fly
Dear Diane,
The Picture Winged Fly, Delphinia picta, is a common species that according to BugGuide: “Breeds in decaying organic matter, such as compost.“ Perhaps you have a compost pile or a newly fertilized lawn that is causing the significant numbers of Picture Winged Flies near your home.
Picture Winged Fly
Toxomerus geminatus
Location: Toledo, OH
May 8, 2011 1:40 pm
Hello! Just gettin’ in to bug season here in Ohio, and identifying this little beauty took me quite a while. I was just convinced he was a bee! I’m pretty sure he’s Toxomerus geminatus, but could possibly be Toxomerus marginatus. I just don’t have the eye to tell yet. Tiny little guy!
Signature: Katy
Flower Fly
Dear Katy,
We believe that your identification of this Flower Fly in the family Syrphidae as Toxomeris geminatus is correct. We are linking to the BugGuide page for additional reference.
Thought it was Laphria macquarti
Location: San Antonio, TX
April 19, 2011 3:36 pm
I saw the 4/15 post of Laphria macquarti and thought I had a shot of it, too, but this appears to be something different. Photos were taken last August in San Antonio. No yellow third leg, and it doesn’t appear as robust. Couldn’t find anything similar on BugGuide, but it does look like Laphria. He sat still for these portraits, so he wasn’t terribly active. Any ideas?
Signature: Melvis & Laugh
Belzebul Bee Eater
Dear Melvis & Laugh,
This is a magnificent predator. You are correct that this is not Laphria macquarti. The Robber Flies in the genus Laphria are known as the Bee-Like Robber Flies and they can be distinguished from the very similar Bee Killer Robber Flies in the genus Mallophora because the latter have a hairlike terminal segment on the antennae (very evident in your photo) while the former have thick antennae. We believe you have photographed the Belzebul Bee Eater, Mallophora leschenaulti, which is also known by the less devilish common name Black Bee Killer according to Bugguide. BugGuide also notes that the Belzebul Bee Eater: “Remarkably, has been reported to attack and kill hummingbirds.” There is much interesting information on this Mallophora webpage.
Belzebul Bee Eater
We decided we really needed to post all three of your images.
Belzebul Bee Eater
Correct Identification?
Location: Battle Ground, WA
April 17, 2011 10:06 pm
I just wanted to thank you for all the excellent resources you provide people with.
My kids captured this insect worried it was a Flying Termite. I used several of the ”Buglinks” and found the bug.
My question is why is the Dance Fly given different scientific names?
Dance Fly – Empis spectabilis and
Dance Fly – Rhamphomyia longicauda.
If the enclosed pictures are not the ”Dance Fly”, could you point me in the right path.
But if I am correct with the Identification,
could you add the picure to your excellent site?
referenced also:
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2007/06/05/unknown-dipteran-with-air-balloon-male-dance-fly/
Signature: daddyo
Dance Fly, we presume
Dear daddyo,
The first part of your question has a very easy answer. Dance Fly is a general name for a member of the family Empididae (see BugGuide) and within that family are many different species. Many of those species do not have unique common names, but they do have unique scientific binomial names. The two names you are questioning are species specific and the names include both genus and species indicators. We believe you are correct that this is a Dance Fly, though we eagerly welcome the input of a dipterist or other knowledgeable person regarding the matter. We are pleased to post your photos and inquiry, and we will also be creating a Dance Fly subcategory for our website.
Dance Fly we believe
Unknown fly or bee?
Location: Abbeville, Louisiana
April 15, 2011 5:02 pm
Found this bug in my yard today. It is slow moving and stayed stationary a lot.
Signature: Thanks, Marcelle
Beelike Robber Fly
Hi Marcelle,
This is a Beelike Robber Fly in the genus Laphria, and it fits the description of Laphria macquarti on BugGuide which describes it as: “Yellow on first few segments of the abdomen and the tibia of the middle leg.” It is a very effective Bumble Bee mimic.
Laphria macquarti
Blue Shiny Bee
Mexican Cactus Fly
Blue Shiny Bee
Location: Torrey Pines, CA
April 11, 2011 10:58 pm
This fat flying bee was hovering around the path and kept coming to the same place – guarding his territory? His large shape reminds me of the Carpenter Bee, but I haven’t been able to identify him. He had a very shiny iridescent blue abdomen. His wings seemed either white or clear with a dark pattern on the forewing and towards the attachment (tegula?) His face was white or at least light. I’ll attach three photos. The first one is best.
Signature: Laura M
Mexican Cactus Fly
Hi Laura,
This is a true Fly, not a Bee. Most Flies have a single pair of wings while Bees have two pairs. We do not have time to research the species at the moment, but we will take the time to post all three of your marvelous action photos so that our readership can take a stab at this identification while we are at work today. The markings on the wings should help in the identification.
Mexican Cactus Fly
We actually followed our suspicions and we believe we are correct that this is a Mexican Cactus Fly, Copestylum mexicanum, a species well represented on BugGuide.
Daniel – thank you so very much! I didn’t know flies could have such large abdomens, or be as large as this was.
Your very speedy answer is very much appreciated!
Laura
Unknown Freaky Mosquito Like Insect
Location: Singapore
April 4, 2011 8:15 am
Hi there,
I guess your site is my first reference when it comes to asking ”what’s this bug” again question so bear with me when I bug you guys again (pun intended). I love your site really. Anyways, I found this along with my photographer friends while trekking a narrow path of a forest. Lo and behold we found this very unusual insect on a leaf. Looks like a hybrid of a mosquito! We already cut the leaf away from the tree and laid it on a log to picture it fully, and still it never bothered to move nor fly away. Maybe you guys would know what insect is this and what species.
Thanks again.
Signature: Giovanni
Crane Fly
Hi Giovanni,
This is a Crane Fly, and it resembles a Mosquito because both Crane Flies and Mosquitoes are in the insect order Diptera, which includes all Flies. We do not recognize the species. We believe we found a match on FlickR that is identified as genus Hexatoma, but we cannot substantiate that.
fly
Location: israel
April 2, 2011 5:09 pm
what this bus
Signature: shimi eni
Unknown Fly from Israel
Dear shimi eni,
Your bus is a Fly and we do not recognize the Fly. We would like additional information before we attempt this identification.
Update: a few minutes later.
There are some beautiful Flies on the Diptera-Israel Insect World webpage, but nothing like this creature.
Identification Courtesy of Karl
April 8, 2011
Hi Daniel and shimi eni:
Someday, perhaps I will be able to take macro shots as nice as this one. It’s a Stiletto Fly (Therevidae), Xestomyzina aureostriata. As far as I can tell, the species has a very limited range and is perhaps endemic to Israel alone. I could find no other information regarding this particular species but Therevid flies generally prefer arid or semi-arid habitats. The larvae are typically soil dwellers that predate other soil invertebrates, particularly beetle larvae. Most adults feed on flower nectar. You can also check out additional photos here and here. Regards. Karl
Thanks so much for providing this information Karl. We have created a new subcategory just to house this awesome Stiletto Fly.
ERRATA: October 16, 2011 9:06 PM.
This is not a bus. This is a bug.
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