#march flies

[antiqueanimals]

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: vol. 2 - Insects. Written by Dr. Bernhard Grzimek. 1984.

Internet Archive

1.) Orchesella cincta

2.) Onychiurus sp.

3.) Campodea staphylinus

4.) Abax ovalis

5.) Notiophilus rufipes

6.) Penthetria holosericea

7.) Tipula scripta

8.) Red wood ant (Formica rufa)

9.) Geophilus sp.

10.) Brown Centipede (Lithobius forficatus)

11.) Polydesmus complanatus

12.) Julus sp.

13.) Glomeris marginata

14.) Pardosa palustris

15.) Nothrus silvestris

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Tabanus australicus aren't known as green head flies for nothing! The nectar-eating males of this species have bright green eyes that cover nearly their entire head. This makes them easy to distinguish from blood-sucking females, which have slightly smaller, reddish-brown eyes.

(Image: A male green head fly (Tabanus australicus) by Peter Chew)

[razehider]

two Bibio, sitting on ragwort, five millimeters apart because they're not gay. happy pride everyone

(March 11th, 2025)

[ljsbugblog]

big and honestly intimidating horse-fly (aka march fly), her mouthparts look very stabby. thankfully she just stared at us for a bit before flying away.

much like mosquitoes, only female horse-flies bite, using the protein from vertebrate blood to produce their eggs.

Unknown Horse-Fly, female (family Tabanidae).

[razehider]

a Bibio desperately grooming his wings in an attempt to remove a bit of dirt stuck to them. if you ignore how bad he is at it, there's a lot of interesting movements going on here not only from his legs folding the wings and smoothing them back into place but also from the abdomen contorting out of the way

don't worry for him though, he could fly just fine. he was just being a baby

(February 24th, 2025)

[diary-of-a-future-bug-scientist]

White-Winged March Flies, Bibio albipennis

Caught this moment on the play tunnel in the backyard. Forgive me, sir and madam. I did not mean to invade your privacy, but this was rather indecent behavior in front of the children.

[deanu]

Bibio sp.

March 2021

Alabama, USA

[britsnana2]

5/27/15

Diptera (Flies)-Bibionidae (March Flies)-Dilophus  spinipes (Dilophus spinipes) 

This fly has been having a hissy fit since I got it out of a mudpuddle. I finally picked it up to get a picture of it’s nose which helps separate this species-then it calmed down some.

Explanation of Names Spinipes probably refers to the extra spines on the front tibia compared to other members of the genus. Range worldwide, but by far most diverse in the Neotropics Remarks in some species the sexes are quite different in form and color, the female often brownish or red, the males black.

Habitat larvae live gregariously in the top layers of soil and leaf litter, rotten wood, and dung; adults often found on flowers Food larvae feed on leaf and needle litter, decaying organic matter, also on subterranean structures of live plants; Hesperinus larvae are xylophagous and bore in the decaying wood of various deciduous trees; adults apparently feed on nectar or pollen, but also on honeydew and plant liquids associated with damage from other insect feeding. adult Plecia do not feed. Life Cycle Adults emerge synchronously in huge numbers and often form dense mating aggregations. Males form loose "swarms" and copulate immediately with females as they emerge from the soil. After mating, female bibionines dig a small chamber in the soil with their fossorial fore tibiae, lay eggs, and die within the chamber (Plecia lay eggs on the soil surface). Adults are short-lived (3-7 days).Remarks larvae may damage cereal crops, vegetable crops, ornamental plants, nursery stock, grass, and forage crops; adult Bibio and Dilophus may be important pollinators in orchards and are the exclusive pollinators of some species of Orchidaceae and Iridaceae