Most insects have wings, and most insects that have wings have four of them. The conspicuous, membranous flying wings on these \u201ctwo-winged\u201d flies are actually the front pair of wings \u2013 the hind pair has been modified into knob-shaped structures called halteres<\/a>, which provide sensory feedback that helps the fly maintain stability in flight. Most flies feed on liquids that they sponge\/suck up (in species like horse flies and mosquitoes, the sponging mouthparts are augmented by cutting blades that get the juices flowing). As a group, flies spread both pollen and disease, though the former is more common than the latter.<\/p>\n The \u201cWithout Bios\u201d series celebrates insects whose profile is low – insects that are neither big enough nor bad enough nor beautiful enough to have been studied much, if at all.<\/p>\n SNIPE FLIES<\/strong> (family Rhagionidae) are also known as \u201cdownlooker flies\u201d because of their habit of perching head-downward. They\u2019re called Snipe flies<\/a> because someone (in a fit of poetic license) thought that their protruding mouthparts looked like a snipe\u2019s bill. They tend to have long legs, and while most are drab-looking, some are spectacular. They like woods and wetland edges, and they prey on small insects. Bugguide.net tells us that their taxonomy \u201chas been unstable<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n [Brief aside for non-birders. Yes, snipe are a thing. They are long-billed, medium-sized shorebirds<\/a> that are often seen in the shallow water at the edges of wetlands. The snipe hunt you went on at Camp didn\u2019t have anything to do with actual Snipe.]<\/p>\n SNIPE FLIES #1<\/strong> \u2013 One of the more spectacular species. The BugLady has poked around at IDing this pair of flies off and on for years. The heavy markings on their wing veins resemble those of the very spiffy Golden-backed Snipe Fly<\/a> (Chrysopilus thoracicus<\/em>), but \u2013 no Chrysopilus<\/em> (\u201cgolden hair\u201d). Turns out that they are Chrosopilus foedus<\/em> (no common name). About them, the BugLady found that the adults perch on vegetation and on dirt roads, the larvae eat small worms, soft-bodied insect larvae, and grasshopper eggs, and like the Golden-backed snipe fly, they have a late spring flight period.<\/p>\n The BugLady is interested in the etymology of entomology, and she discovered that the species name foedus has several unrelated meanings. The first (a noun) is a \u201ctreaty, league, tie, bond, or pact<\/em>;\u201d second (an adjective) is \u201cdisgusting, foul, loathsome, ghastly, unclean, obscene, etc<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The BugLady encountered SNIPE FLY #2<\/strong> (Rhagio hirtus<\/em>) (maybe) along a woodsy edge, and she was fascinated by its behavior. Every once in a while, as it ran around on the leaf, it would lower its head and push it around a bit on the leaf\u2019s surface. No idea. (Well, two ideas \u2013 1) some kind of myopic hunting behavior, or 2) it had been taken over by a brain-eating, zombie-making fungus.)<\/p>\n When she was prowling the dunes at Kohler-Andrae State Park last summer, the BugLady saw BEE FLIES<\/strong>, aka Humbleflies, (family Bombyliidae) of at least three species. There are lots of Bee flies globally, but the lives of many of them are poorly known. Adults are generally nectar feeders (they sip nectar through a non-retractable proboscis), and many are bee-mimics (and they make the requisite buzzing sound). Larvae are parasitoids of ground-nesting insects like beetles, moths, and solitary bees and wasps.<\/p>\n Mom locates a nest tunnel and lobs an egg into it while its creator is away looking for provisions for her eventual larvae (actually, Mom will throw an egg into any shadowy area that looks tunnel-ish, but she can afford to waste, because she can lay hundreds of eggs each day). In order to add a little weight to the egg as she releases it, Mom picks up some sand, which she stores in a chamber (OK \u2013 a “psammophore<\/em>“) at the tip of her abdomen. Some sand adheres to the egg as it passes by, making it heavier and camouflaging it. It\u2019s theorized that since bee flies are soft-bodied, this method of laying eggs prevents them from close encounters with the owner of the tunnel, who may be upset by the intrusion and is packing a stinger.<\/p>\n The larvae are unusual in being very active in their first larval stage (hypermetamorphosis<\/em>) \u2013 this lets them scurry down the tunnel and search for a host. They let themselves into an egg chamber, and then settle down to normal larval speed, and eat the stored pollen and then the rightful owner of the cell. The bee fly emerges the following spring in sync with the flight period of its target host.<\/p>\n Bee Fly #1<\/strong> \u2013 Exoprosopa fasciiata<\/em> (probably), aka the Barred Bee fly, is pretty common east of the Great Plains. \u201cFasci\u201d means \u201cband\u201d and refers to the white band on the abdomen.<\/p>\n Bee Fly #2<\/strong> \u2013 Exoprosopa fascipennis<\/em> (no common name). \u201cFasci<\/em>\u201d means \u201cband,\u201d and \u201cpennis<\/em>\u201d means \u201cwing.\u201d It\u2019s found throughout the summer at beaches and sandy meadows over the eastern half of the continent. It looks for the tunnels of Tiphiid wasps and sand wasps.<\/p>\n Bee Fly #3<\/strong> \u2013 Villa lateralis<\/em> (probably) (bugguide says that because their markings are variable, \u201cidentification to species is tentative at best<\/em>\u201d). Larvae of flies in the genus Villa<\/em> feed on (in) the larvae of stag beetles, moths, horse flies, and ant lions that they find under the sand.<\/p>\n Available for all three bee fly species are extensive descriptions of every part of their anatomy, but not biographies.<\/p>\n The BugLady confesses (no surprise) that she\u2019s always had a soft spot for predators, and ROBBER FLIES<\/strong> (family Asilidae) are amazing poster children for unapologetic meat-eaters. There are lots of them \u2013 7,500 robber fly species worldwide, 1,040 in North America, and about 100 in the Great Lakes area. Robber flies have eyes worthy of a predator and long legs that the BugLady thinks look double-jointed<\/a> somehow). They usually sport a beard<\/a> (\u201cmystax\u201d- which is both Greek and Latin for \u201cmoustache\u201d). They like the sun, and they often perch on vegetation at woodland edges so they can scan for prey (the BugLady once saw one shoot straight up off a leaf in pursuit of a butterfly overhead). They\u2019ll go after bugs that are bigger than they are, including other robber flies, and one theory about the mystax is that it protects their faces from the stinging insects they catch. Their larvae live in soil and rotting wood and eat small invertebrates that they find there.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2023\/03\/snipe-fly-chrysopilus-foedus15.webp\")
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