A couple of Fly's

[deetheturk]

Hi guys, as it says in the title, A couple of Fly's #1 is a young Horse Fly? I stand to be corrected and #2 is a Drone Fly ( Bee mimic Fly ) C&C Welcome!


#1


#2


Cheers David...

[Shadowman]

Nice captures.

[IzzieK]

Both interesting specimens...the eyes are different too...Is that how you tell one from the other? #1 has the stripey eye and the second one is just velvety...Excellent macro, can almost feel the hairs...

[bnnrcn]

Very nice golden colors and details David I especially like the fly with striped eyes, although I find all flies disgusting

[deetheturk]

Cheers John

[JohnRostron]

Two nice pictures. The second looks very much like a drone fly (which are kinds of hover fly). The first is another hover fly. Horse flies tend to feed on blood rather than flowers. The stripy effect of refraction and reflection in the eyes is fascinating.

John

[deetheturk]

Thanks Izzie, Its amazing the difference in the eyes of these little creatures which is not apparent until you get this close

Google, Geoff and Jack help telling them apart

[deetheturk]

Thank you Binnur, I'm glad you liked them disgusting

[deetheturk]

Cheers John, who never read my post it was the eyes on #1 that got me thinking Horse Fly, hate the little effers we are plagued with them over here for a month or so each year

[Geoff F]

Interesting species there, David.

Any other views of #1? Looks a bit like Stomorhina lunata but I'm not completely sure from just that angle.

Originally from North Africa they do migrate northwards during the summer and I have found them where I live in the UK. The larvae are parasites on locusts.

The second is an Eristalis species, as can be recognised from the deep loop in the mid wing veins. But I'm not sure about the exact species.

The part yellow hind tibia rules out E. tenax and it looks a bit like E. pertinax but they normally have all yellow front and mid tarsi, although these can be slightly darkened.

An alternative which you get, but only rarely seen in the UK, is E. similis. The sides of the thorax and femora are slightly grey dusted. I'm not really sufficiently experienced to give a firm answer here; other than Eristalis sp.

ps. a note about John's comments regarding Horse Flies. They do feed on flowers for most of their lives; and entirely so for males. Females need a 'boost' of blood before egg laying.

[Rebel]

Very nice shots David, the first one is my favourite.

I hope to try my hand at a bit of macro stuff in the next few weeks, when the bugs and flowers come out

[deetheturk]

Cheers Geoff, thanks again for the I.D.

Here is another angle, don't know if this is any better for I.D. purposes?

[deetheturk]

Cheers Matt, I will look forward to your posts mate, they are just starting to re-appear here although today its not stopped raining

[John 2]

Beautifully Sharp where it counts David. Particularly like the first one.

[Geoff F]

I'm no expert on Stomorhina but it certainly looks very likely to me.

[marlunn]

David, great images as expected - love the colours and detail.

[Stagecoach]

Superb set David. I find the 3rd one most appealing if I try and choose between the three, why, not a clue and it bugs me

Cheers, Grahame

[DanK]

Geoff, who knows far more about this than I do, beat me to it. Where I spend the summer, the major large parasitic flies are called deer flies and horse flies, which are the genus Tabanidae. Deer flies have similar colored stripes in their eyes, often in a zig-sag pattern. I knew that the males drink nectar and that only females drink blood, but I didn't know that the females also eat from flowers much of the time. Here is one deerfly eating from a flower:



And here is another about to bit my knee, through some thin nylon hiking pants:

[Barbara Ponder]

So that's what they look like up close Amazing images!

[IzzieK]

Dan...yours got rainbow eyes!! Beautiful!!!