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Phoridae

Phoridae

Photo by EllaNicuta
Published on Project Noah
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47.1555, 27.6296

Field Notes

Description:

Is a very small insect, size of a baby Drosophila melanogaster.

Habitat:

Europe, Romania, Iasi, on a Lamiaceae leaf, under a Juglans regia.

Notes:

I noticed a white dot on it, and put my 100 mm and kenko rings, took some shots and the battery went down. After aprox half of hour I returned on the same spot and took some more shots. So they preferred that particular spot. They flew around but came back. I observed them only about an hour, until dark.
There are only two flies. The female folds out her abdomen, exposing the white "horns" when the male is nearby.

Reference Links:

Phoridae, Insect and Spider Identification: SOLVED: Help ID this fly

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (15)
Yasser
This is incredibly fascinating Ella! I have never seen anything like it either. Thank you for sharing.
LaurenZarate
Thank you Ella. It is the weirdest thing! I have been looking for anything like this in other flies and can't find anything yet.
HemaShah
Several species have the common name 'coffin fly', because they breed in human corpses with such tenacity, they can even continue living within buried coffins. For this reason, they are important in forensic entomology.
Jolly Ibañez
Wow, incredible documentation. I admire your patience to capture these wonderful shots! Thanks Ella for sharing.
EllaNicuta
@LaurenZarate, There are only two flies. The female folds out her abdomen, exposing the white "horns" when the male is nearby. Is the strangest behavior I ever seen, and I watch Animal Planet :)
LaurenZarate
I don't understand this. There are 3 flies in the first picture. Only one fly has this white thing on the abdomen. Is it parasitized?
Aaron_G
Nobody has liked or commented on this yet? Do yourself a favor and really look at these images. Wow! Then realize how tiny they are. Super, super photos!
Photographed
PublishedOctober 25, 2013

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