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banana stalk fly

Photo by Scott Frazier
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

A banana stalk fly (family Neriidae, slender, long-legged flies). Many species are sexually dimorphic, with males having more elongated bodies, heads, antennae and legs than females. Neriid flies are saprophagous. Larvae develop in rotting vegetable matter, including bark and fruit. Neriid adults tend to aggregate on rotting vegetable matter or damaged tree trunks. Neriid adults are also attracted to flowers, or other sources of sugar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neriidae

Habitat:

Spotted in a large semi-urban yard and garden in close proximity to a disturbed patch of remnant forest, in the equatorial tropics of northern New Guinea.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)
Scott Frazier
Thanks Wilson. I'm not convinced of Telostylinus lineolatus due to the lack of obvious white longitudinal stripes on the thorax (as seen in your suggestion link and elsewhere, e.g. http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=7793 )
drP
Beautiful picture and very interesting information. Thanks for sharing this.

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Biota of S. Frazier's Yard at Sentani, Papua, Indonesia

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Photographed
PublishedMay 26, 2013

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