#ephydridae

[bowelfly]

brine fly guy

[cnestus]

In another life I'd love to be an ephydrid taxonomist. Big fan of their goofy little faces

[miyrumiyru]

These cuties have white dots on their wings!

[ljsbugblog]

blowing bubbles in the pond water ig.

unknown Shore Fly (family Ephydridae).

[bowelflies]

Lipochaeta ranica

[drhoz]

#2333 - Hydrellia velutinifrons

Another shore fly species, but this one is endemic to New Zealand. The first hostplant for the species was only identified in 2012, but the text of that paper is behind a paywall.

There are more than 240 described species in the genus. Some Hydrellia species are being investigated as biocontrols of Hydrilla verticillata in Florida - two native and one each from Pakistan and Australia. Hydrilla verticillata is a horrendously invasive aquatic plant, but success with the flies has so far been limited - possibly because the flies are themselves being parasitised by a native wasp.

Mt Ruapehu, North Island Volcanic Plateau, New Zealand

[reanimateobjects]

[bowelfly]

thank god it's flyday