little wasp - Physocephala tibialis

Moved

Moved from Physocephala.

… Aaron Schusteff, 28 December, 2013 - 3:49am

Moved

Moved from Thick-headed Flies.

… Keith Bayless, 25 March, 2008 - 10:59am

genus

Physocephala

… Keith Bayless, 20 May, 2007 - 3:17pm

Edit

Fixed your location info so it wouldn't say "Northern New Jersey County". I hope you don't mind.

… Chuck Entz, 19 May, 2007 - 10:11am

I don't mind, but there's not

I don't mind, but there's no such place! It was found in Passaic County, which is in the northern half of New Jersey. Next time I'll put that in the information.

… hopefoot, 20 May, 2007 - 8:44pm

"County/Parish/District/Region:" field

When you put anything that doesn't end in "Parish" or "County" in this field, the software tacks the word "County" on the end. When you put "Northern New Jersey" in that field, it came out as "Northern New Jersey County".

The references to "District and "Region" are to Canadian administrative jurisdictions very roughly corresponding to counties, not to their normal general meanings. This is confusing, I know...

… Chuck Entz, 20 May, 2007 - 11:30pm

See, its not just bugs I lear

See, its not just bugs I learn about around here. Thanks for the explanation.

… hopefoot, 21 May, 2007 - 8:39am

Conopidae

This is actually a fly, but a very convincing wasp mimic. The family is Conopidae. Nice find.

… Stephen_WV, 19 May, 2007 - 8:25am

I was almost sure it was a wa

I was almost sure it was a wasp because of what looks like its tiny stinger, but its the eyes that give it away as a fly, right?

… hopefoot, 19 May, 2007 - 8:28am

Also, one pair of wings,

and a pair of halteres (the light colored little stub below the wing base, well visible in both of your photos; one on each side) clearly make it a fly. Nice shots!

… Hartmut Wisch, 19 May, 2007 - 10:41pm

Thanks very much!

… hopefoot, 21 May, 2007 - 8:41am

"Beak"

Eyes, yes, and also in this family of wasp mimics, the flies have a prominent "beak" (mouthparts) that you can see in this photo partly tucked under the head, partly sticking out. Wasps won't have anything like this beak. In fact, most flies don't have anything like this beak either!

… Stephen_WV, 19 May, 2007 - 9:14am

Neato. Thanks for the explana

Neato. Thanks for the explanation. Mimics are fascinating.

… hopefoot, 25 March, 2008 - 9:46am