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Celyphid Beetle Fly

Celyphus sp.

Photo by John B.
Published on Project Noah
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15.4558, 119.922

Field Notes

Description:

This Celyphid Beetle Fly has some significance in my collection of Celyphidae photos. It is about four years since I first saw a Celyphid and, initially, I thought that it was a rare kind of creature. This was based on the relatively few observations and pictures that I could find online. However, it can't be as rare as I thought because, just in my local area, I have encountered this kind of fly and taken photos on six occasions (including the pictures in this spotting). What makes this spotting rather interesting (to me) is that this is the only time that I have seen a Celyphid on a plant which is not a Citrus plant. However, this information is probably irrelevant because I don't think that Celyphidae actually eat the plant. They obviously sip at something on the surface of plants. Wikipedia says that Celyphids live alongside streams in wet grassy areas and that the larvae eat fungi and soil bacteria, but there is no specific mention of what adults eat. Based on what I have seen and mentioned in my spottings e.g. sipping at dead, slimy and rotten plant material seems to fit in with fungi and bacteria.

Habitat:

This Celyphus sp. was spotted in our front yard on an unidentified orchid, clinging to the trunk of a Currant Tree (Antidesma bunius), locally known as Bignay.

Species ID Suggestions

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Photographed
PublishedNovember 1, 2022

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