Small-headed Fly
Male, ventral
Ellura
Flower-loving Fly
Female, profile
 
                      
Flower-loving Fly (Apiocera maxima)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Flies (Diptera)
Family: Flower-loving Fly (Apioceridae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Flower-loving Fly (Apiocera maxima)
This Photo:     Female, dorsal

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
Found this big fly being torn apart by tiny ants while it was still alive. We rescued it to ease it's suffering. Thought it was a fat robber fly. Took photo's of it and started to wonder if it was a fly at all. Couldn't see it's halteres anywhere, and realised the ants had already ripped them off. It was clear an antenna was also missing, as well as a lot of the mouth parts. Our specimen is a bit dusty from lying upside down in the dirt.

Copyright © 2015-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 29-Dec-2015
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.