Well, this post was originally supposed to be finished for Friday, but here we are and it’s already Monday!
Today I’ll be showing some of the lower flies from my trip to Bolivia in spring 2007.
Having just finished my undergraduate honour’s thesis on the Stratiomyidae of Ontario, I was itching to find some cool tropical soldier flies! This Cyphomyia sp. was at the top of my hitlist for things I wanted to see, and it took nearly the entire trip until I found some hanging around a recently felled tree. The metallic blue body and yellow head really makes this genus special in my eyes!
This flower fly (family Syrphidae) posed nicely for my first photograph of the trip!
The flower flies are one of the most diverse families of lower Brachycera with many different body plans.
Related to the blue-bottle flies frequently referenced on CSI, this blow-fly species (family Calliphoridae) was a frequent visitor to honey spray.
The Tachinidae are a hyper-diverse family of parasitic flies with more than 8,000 species described thus far, and many many more to go!
I’m generally not a fan of Calyptrates, but I have to make an exception for the Tachinidae. Their extremely varied morphology and the abundance of spikes on their abdomens (in most cases) make them a lot of fun to find!
Tomorrow should round off the Bolivian insects with some Acalyptrate flies finally taking centre stage (where they rightfully belong)!
Oooh very nice pictures, that stratiomyid is quite beautiful. WHERE ARE THE ASILIDS!!!
Thanks Miles! I think I ended up with a few shots of the same asilid, but I wasn’t too happy with them so figured I’d skip them this time. No worries though, robber flies will be making an appearance in the future!
Great work on the blog so far Morgan!
-Dani
Cyphomyia sp. – now that’s a fly!
Nice photos mate! Looking forward to any sepsids you got!