#acalyptratae

[rattyexplores]

Mating upside down.

10/12/23 - Acalyptratae sp.

QLD:WET

[rattyexplores]

There are many fly species out there that haven’t been identified. I’m glad I found the name for this one at least ❤

Homoneura discoglauca

18/05/22

[dendroica]

Signal Fly (Rivellia sp.) (by me)

[drhoz]

#268 - Lauxaniid Fly

Spotted on a fig on my last day in Uranquinty. Being pink, orange, and rotund puts it straight into the Lauxaniidae, a large family of acalyptrate flies.  According to Wiki :

They generally are small flies (length 5 mm or less) with large compound eyes that often are brightly coloured in life. Many species have variegated patterns on their wings, but in contrast they generally do not have variegated bodies.

Some 1800 species of Lauxaniidae have been described and they comprise some 126 genera. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, most of the species occurring in tropical regions of Asia and the Americas; relatively few species occur in Afrotropical regions, and Lauxaniid species diversity declines strongly towards the more temperate regions; for example fewer than 200 European species have been described. Most species inhabit forests, where the adults usually are found sitting on leaves of the understory. They are far less common in open country, such as grassland habitats.

The larvae are mostly saprophagous, feeding in leaf litter, soil, bird nests, etc.