Clearing out the diptera file from mid-spring, here are some flies I've seen lately to awhile ago:
Top of post is a crane fly male, maybe European crane fly, Tipula paludosa or another in that genus, visiting the dried up holiday wreath hanging on the back fence.
Green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata, perched on a milkweed leaf. This is the fly that Jack Hodges of Bones is always mentioning as he walks into the room. The female fly lays her eggs on dead animals; the maggots develop in predictable ways and so forensic entomologists use them to determine time of death.
A Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata stopped on a nearby shrub briefly one morning; it's the only one I have ever seen. Most likely this is a sterile male released by the people that breed sterile fruit flies at the state of California. The sterile males are marked with red between the eyes . . . if you can get close enough or a sharp enough photo to see it. Otherwise, a female fly would have a visible ovipositor . . . again I failed to notice or get a photo showing that. A female C. capitata would indicate a med fly infestation . . . a bad thing.
This muscid fly spent its mornings hanging out on the cactus spines. Not sure why.
2 comments:
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Very nice pictures, i like them a lot. You are taking beautiful photos.
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