Moved from Robber Flies.

This is one of my (many!) favorite groups...thanks for posting these nice images :-)

The conspicuously upturned "club-like" terminalia seen here indicates a male. Females have symmetrically rounded terminalia with short radiating spines. Note that, unlike robbers, the vertex area of the head in apiocerids is not "indented" and there's no mystax. Another distinction, though usually harder to see in the field, is the wing venation...which in Apiocera has the distinctive cluster of radial vein tips that curve forward (reminiscent of mydids...but less pronounced).

I wish they weren't so difficult to ID to species. Keys in Cazier(1) use characters of terminalia...but by patiently(!) studying his tome with a fine tooth comb, I think I've sometimes been able to narrow down likely species from photos using geographical range first, then Cazier's abdominal pattern figures (unfortunately only given for some species...not all), and then reading his very detailed descriptions and seeing if visible characters fit or not.

Cazier(1) indicated that the common name "flower-loving flies" is a misnomer. He stated that adults don't appear to feed much...with the only recorded observations being feeding on honeydew, and possibly obtaining nutriment from material dissolved in other liquids (e.g. water) that they drink. Thus, they presumably short-lived, which helps explain why they're not more commonly seen.

Fascinating and beuatiful creatures :-)

beautiful fly. But it is not a robber. It is a superb mimic of one though and is not predatory. This is likely in Apiocera. The group Apioceridae. I have never seen one and am not sure I have a species locally. I believe they are all in the west and are all relatively rare. Only about 60 species in NA.

Moved from ID Request.