Is this a horse Fly?
Location: Roxboro, NC
May 16, 2011 2:09 pm
This bug was flittering with some northern cloudywing butterflys. they were chasing it away from the flowers. I thought it was a small butterfly but looking at the pictures later I decided it might be a Hoarse Fly but can’t find one with the bright yellow eyes. I live in Northern North Carolina. It was sighted on May 16 in the morning in my rural flower garden near a stream, woods and a meadow.
Signature: Thanks, J Armacost
Dear J,
This is a Golden Backed Snipe Fly, Chrysopilus thoracicus, and each spring, we receive several new images for our archive. According to BugGuide: “Adults are alleged to be predatory on other insects, but they may feed little (observations by BugGuide members).” Additionally, bugGuide indicates that the details of the life cycle are unknown.