| Stilt-legged Fly - Taeniaptera trivittata |
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Click Here or on the image above for a Quicktime video of this fly waving its hands
| I would have called this the "semaphore" fly, in that it constantly waves its front legs around as if signaling someone or something. Popular science has it they are mimicking ant or wasp antennae, but I'm not sold on that theory. Wasp antennae are jointed and "droop" and certainly don't wave about like this fly does. Temnostoma, a Syrphid fly, does a much better job of mimicking wasp antennae. Family Micropezidae consists of about 40 genera with 475 described species worldwide. I have always found this species in wooded settings near flowing water. |
This Micropezidae, a smaller species, remains unidentified.