Palloptera muliebris (female)
Distinctive fly found on top of my compost bin after I had been rummaging about in it looking for beetles. At first I thought it was a Tephritid "picture wing" fly, but couldn't find anything like it in my book. So, as usual, I reverted to searching the web for a picture of anything similar and discovered that this was a "trembling-wing" (Pallopteridae) fly called Palloptera muliebris. It certainly waved its wings in an unusual fashion, holding them straight out and tilted forward, etc. David Clements confirmed the ID on the UK Diptera Facebook group page, adding that these flies are believed to develop as a predator of beetle larvae, probably usually woodboring beetles but also seemingly in other situations as well. Maybe that is why I hadn't found any beetles in the compost!
By the way "muliebris" means womanly in Latin. This one definitely is feminine as you can tell from the ovipositor sticking out of her rear.
Location: Ipswich, VC25 East Suffolk, TM16644502
Date: 25 Nov 2015
Highest position in Explore: #78 on Nov 27, 2015.
Palloptera muliebris (female)
Distinctive fly found on top of my compost bin after I had been rummaging about in it looking for beetles. At first I thought it was a Tephritid "picture wing" fly, but couldn't find anything like it in my book. So, as usual, I reverted to searching the web for a picture of anything similar and discovered that this was a "trembling-wing" (Pallopteridae) fly called Palloptera muliebris. It certainly waved its wings in an unusual fashion, holding them straight out and tilted forward, etc. David Clements confirmed the ID on the UK Diptera Facebook group page, adding that these flies are believed to develop as a predator of beetle larvae, probably usually woodboring beetles but also seemingly in other situations as well. Maybe that is why I hadn't found any beetles in the compost!
By the way "muliebris" means womanly in Latin. This one definitely is feminine as you can tell from the ovipositor sticking out of her rear.
Location: Ipswich, VC25 East Suffolk, TM16644502
Date: 25 Nov 2015
Highest position in Explore: #78 on Nov 27, 2015.