Look at Those Legs

I photographed this fly on the glassed in verandah of Simon's brother's house in Canberra. The last time I saw one was nearly 10 years ago, by the front door on the exterior of my sister's house, also in Canberra. That original one caused a little flurry of interest in the fly world on the specialist dipterists forum, Diptera.info. As a result, I now know that this fly is Senostoma sp, a parasitic fly. They belong to a particular group easily identifiable by their very long legs and bristly bodies. Getting beyond that though is often difficult, especially from just photos. Senostoma spp are all native to Australasia and they mostly parasitise beetle larvae from the scarab family. The genus Senostoma was first described by the French entomologist Justin Pierre Marie Macquart. There are at least 29 species and they generally prefer dry upland eucalypt forest.

2019 is the International Year of the Fly. Look out for events near you.

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