Category Archives: Diptera

Flies. About 150,000 species. Phytophagous, predaceous, or parasitic on other insects. Blood sucking species vector diseases.

Bichos Argentinos #8 – “Mosca de la Carne”

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

Here is the full-sized photo from which the “super-crop” featured in Super Crop Challenge #4 was taken.  As many of you guessed, this is a higher fly (order Diptera, suborder Brachycera) in the family Sarcophagidae, with the photo crop showing frontal portion of … Continue reading →

Posted in Diptera, Sarcophagidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Bichos Argentinos #1 – Eristalinus taeniops

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

It figures that perhaps the most striking insect I saw at La Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina would be an introduced species, as the area itself is a man-made reconstruction of the wet Pampas grasslands endemic to coastal areas of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Diptera, Syrphidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Frenatae 2011 Calendar

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

Even though we’re now in the latter part of February, I wanted to spread the word about a cool insect-themed calendar shown to me by a colleague during my recent trip to Brazil. Produced by Frenatae, the Graduate Student Entomology … Continue reading →

Posted in Coleoptera, Diptera, Scarabaeidae, Tabanidae, Zopheridae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Brazil Bugs #10 – A mosca mais legal que eu já vi!

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

I found this bizarre-looking fly outside of Campinas, Brazil (on the same tree as the Aetalion reticulatum that I showed earlier).  There were a few of them, and although they weren’t especially flighty they did have the annoying habit of … Continue reading →

Posted in Diptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Brazil Bugs #6 – A mosca

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

As I strolled the hotel grounds here in Campinas after work one day last week, I came upon a tree with several epiphytic orchids and a large staghorn fern (Platycerium sp.) mounted to its trunk.  On the tips of several of … Continue reading →

Posted in Diptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Brazil Bugs #2

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

A few more photographs from this past week in Campinas, Brazil.  It rained during the afternoon but stopped by the time I arrived back at the hotel, allowing me to stroll the lavishly landscaped grounds during the mild evening hours.  There … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicadidae, Coccinelidae, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Sarcophagidae, Vespidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

The marvelously monstrous Microstylum morosum

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

A few weeks ago, while waiting to begin my nocturnal hunt for the Great Plains giant tiger beetle (Amblycheila cylindriformis) in northwestern Oklahoma, I spent the daytime atop one of the red flat-topped mesas that meander through the area in nearby Gloss Mountain State … Continue reading →

Posted in Asilidae, Diptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Waiter, there’s a fly on my fungus…

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

On my recent season-opening-birthday-bug-collecting-trip in Sam A. Baker State Park, Rich and I happened upon a large grape (Vitis sp.) vine hanging from a tree in the bottomland forests along Big Creek. Draped over a foot-long section of the lower … Continue reading →

Posted in Diptera, Drosophilidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments