3:00 snapshot #1015

Behind the scenes at the zoo rides.

And five years ago today:

Behind the scenes at the Drumlin Farm bird cages.

100 More Species #25: Stiletto Fly

Stiletto fly Ozodiceromyia sp.

Have I mentioned lately that I really like flies? Did I mention that one of my alternate life history fantasies is that I got my degree in Bio, and my Masters in Entomology, and traveled to Costa Rica to study long-legged flies for my Doctoral thesis, but then settled into writing books about synanthropic arthropods, whiling my days away identifying every fly that I come into contact with, on my dissecting microscope in my home laboratory?

There are over 150,000 described species of "true fly" in the world (true flies are distinct from other animals with fly in their name like dragonflies and stoneflies) and certainly many many more yet to be named. By comparison there are less than HALF that many species in the group of animals that are characterized by a dorsal nerve cord (you know, sea squirts, fish, humans). Flies are characterized by the modification of one pair of wings into knoblike stabilizers, making them probably the most adept animals to have ever maneuvered in the air. (Think of a house fly landing on the ceiling. Now imagine a helicopter attempting a similar move.)

Stiletto fly adults are beneficial pollinators, feeding on nectar. Their young are long wormlike maggots that burrow through loose dry soil and hunt other invertebrates. Stiletto flies are found from southern Canada to northern South America, but are most diverse in the American Southwest. I had never heard of this group until I sent this photo into BugGuide. Is there a cooler name for an insect than Stiletto Fly?