Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Backyard Diptera

Yesterday I posted a few of the bees and wasps I have been seeing in the backyard. Today I will cover a few of the flies, some of which were out before I started seeing bees and wasps. Yesterday was warm enough to get a lot of insects moving. Among them was the fly below. This appears similar to a House Fly but does not seem to be a complete match, so it is probably another species in the family Muscidae.

Here is another view:

Well before I started seeing flies like this, I had seen lots of midges and some craneflies at my mothlight. Back on March 11, this cranefly came to the light.

The same night, the two midges below also appeared on the sheet. The one with the feathery antennae appears to be a male Chironomus sp.


On March 18, this female Chironomus sp. came to the light (along with many other midges).