Flies, flies, and more flies
While most flies tend to be extremely annoying, they are a boon for us macro photographers. The reason is they are simply everywhere. It is not difficult to find a fly, and on some days when it seems I can’t find anything, there’s always a fly there to help. Of course, with some flies it can be tricky to get close enough to get a shot - especially when you go above 1x. This is even trickier when the fly is on a leaf and you need to make sure not to bump anything. For the majority of flies I try to photograph I never get a shot or if I get a shot then it’s not clear. Some flies only allow me to take a single shot - then they take off.
During a recent outing in the ponds next to my work, I found several flies and managed to successfully photography them. This is the first one I found.
After some research, I can conclusively state that I have no idea what type of fly this is. It does look somewhat similar to a tachinid fly, but I am far from certain. Therefore, I will name this fly for my own sake and give it the very scientific name of “mini-fly”. In terms of mini-fly’s habits, it likes to sit on moss. Here’s a front view of mini-fly.
The following is a fly that I was able to identify.
Actually this isn’t truly a fly - as flies belong to the order diptera. This guy (or gal) belongs to the order hymenoptera - which also includes wasps, bees, and ants. It is called a sawfly and gets its name from the similarity of the ovipositor (the part that lays eggs) with a saw. They primarily feed on plants and algae, though some do eat wood. This particular sawfly is in the family pamphilidae, also called web-spinning sawflies. Interestingly, they spin webs or tents in which they feed. Web-spinning sawflies can be identified by their forward head that is rather wide for the length. Here’s a better shot showing the head.
Note also on the picture above it the presence of what look like three “eyes” on the top of its head. I’m not sure if those are actually eyes, or something else. The picture above is of a different individual - note that it does not have the stripes on the abdomen. These may be two separate species, though other than the stripes they certainly look the same. Here’s a top view showing the “eyes”.
Some of these sawflies defoliate the leaves of conifers and may be considered to be pests. Still, if they are pests then they are very interesting pests. In particular, I suspect the stripes on the abdomen are a type of mimicry - to make predators think that it is a bee with a stinger.
This is all for the flies today, though I suspect that I’ll be posting more pictures of them as the summer arrives.
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Tags: diptera, fly, hymenoptera, macro, mini-fly, pamphilidae, photography, sawfly