If you have good photos, send them in, folks, as I’ll need a fairly good supply when I’m in Poland. Today we feature a group of pictures by Jacques Hausser called “Ugly flies”. (In my view, there’s no such thing as an ugly fly.) Jacque’s comments and notes are indented.
I submit you some ugly flies, out of fairness: why should they not share the fame provided by WEIT with so many cute mammals, birds and butterflies ? They are not responsible of their physical appearance, after all. I’m not always sure of their identification and corrections are welcome.
The hornet robber fly, Asilus crabroniformis (Asilidae). A large, predatory robber fly, eating dung beetle, among other insects. The larvae live in the cow dung.
Another robber fly, Choerades marginata (Asilidae):
Conops vesicularis. (Conopidae). The adult is a nectar feeder, but the larvae are endoparasites of wasps. It was suggested to use this fly to fight the invasion of the asiatic hornet, Vespa velutina.
A dance fly, Empis tesselata (Empidae). They are predatory, but everybody likes a sip of nectar, no ?
Suilia gigantea (Heleomysidae). This species lays its eggs on truffles, and is used as an indicator of these fungi: just follow the insect. I have frequently seen the fly in my garden, but I did never find a truffle…
And no, this Suillia is not worshipping the Lord of the flies.
Here’s a video of some individuals on black truffles:
Tachina fera (Tachinidae). The adult lives on flowers (they like Asteraceae and Aipiaceae), and lay their eggs on the plants. The young larvae pierce the skin of caterpillars of various moths and develop therein as endoparasites.
Tachina grossa (Tachinidae). One of the largest fly of Europe (15-19 mm), with the same way of life as the previous one.
I think flies have cute feet!
Lovely flies! 🙂
I have some for PCC[E]… must sort them…
Come on botanists! Identify the flowers as well – the empid is on a species of Scabious – I do not know which…
Nice to learn something about the diverse lives of flies! Thanks Jacques and PCC(E).
Excellent work, Jacques! Your pictures are always a welcome treat for me. I often get ideas from you about the possible genera of some insects that I have, and, once again I have taken some notes.
Your close-up photography is VERY good! I never get those results. Thanks for sharing them.
I’ve never seen more enchanting Ugly Flies! Merci, Jacques.
I suspect that insects developing inside the living body of other insects gave the idea of the movie Alien.