#dung fly

Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)

Golden Dung Fly

Golden Dung Fly - Scathophaga stercoraria

The more Flies I find while out looking for insects, the more surprised I am to find new varieties and families within their order, Diptera. Today’s post is a new specie and opens up another new family for this blog to explore:  Scathophagidae. More commonly they are called Dung Flies, but researching into this family suggests that this common name is a bit of a stretch as not all Flies within this family have an appreciation for dung. It can be tough to narrow broad spectrum characteristics into a family name. The only name I could think of would be “Hunter Flies” given the diet of the adult, but this might tread on Robber Flies, which, in my opinion are the more vicious predatory Flies. The latter exemplify hunting with that sharp facial spike and their aggression, but this Dung Fly is no slouch to hunting. There’s great footage online with this specie slowly approaching other Flies at rest and then rushing them and trapping them with their enlarged spine covered legs. The only thing I’m confused on is their mouthpart. Looking at macrophotography and videos of the Fly hunting, it looks like it has a sponge mouthpart (labellum) on the end, but the mouthpart as a whole looks like a short and blunt pencil tip. I’m very curious to seeing how exactly it lands the first blow upon capturing a Fly or similar insect.

Regardless of how it manages to nab its meal, the where is what interests me. When hunting, the hungry Fly waits from around flowers, leaves or dung to attack insects. Blowflies such as the Greenbottle Fly are on the menu given their attraction to both, and I fear that Hoverflies may also be on the menu too! Let’s hope their striped patterns can give this Fly the slip. Whether hunting or waiting for a potential mate, this individual was vigilant over a pile of dog poop and remained on plants nearby. Had I known what this specie was, I would’ve stayed around a bit longer to see if it catch something. The adults won’t eat the dung as a primary food source, but they are drawn to it, and eggs laid inside it (for this specie). Other species within Scathophagidae lay their eggs on other things in the natural world such as on plants, in water and some even parasitize other insects. The only thing I can think of that all these sites have in common is a lot of moisture (which is handy to ward off drying out). All this variety of habits and preferences and yet poop is the main focus of this family. With this particular specie being a common find in the wild and well studied in research, it may have influenced the naming of this Fly family.

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