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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Calyptratae » Muscoidea
Photo#136225
Deerfly?
Copyright © 2007 David Brady

Deerfly?
Saratoga Springs, Utah County, Utah, USA
August 12, 2007
Size: 5mm
All I know about these flies is that they're carnivorous and are cheerfully cannibalistic. I used to catch these flies in a plastic cup to feed to jumping spiders. One morning I caught 9 in the same cup, and by the time I got them inside, there were only 2 left alive. We called them deerflies but I doubt this is the proper term.
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Contributed by David Brady on 12 August, 2007 - 9:06pm
Last updated 2 September, 2007 - 7:53pm

Tiger fly, I'd say
Sounds like your spiders got a lot of nourishment from just two flies. LOL.

Check here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/16057
… Ron Hemberger, 12 August, 2007 - 11:54pm login or register to post comments

 
Hehe
Well, in that instance the flies didn't have the chance to properly eat one another. One would kill another, then would drop the carcass to attack (or be attacked by) a third.

By the time I got inside, 5 flies were dead, and the remaining 2 were each eating one of the fallen.

But yes, the spiders found them quite tasty nonetheless.
… David Brady, 13 August, 2007 - 9:36am login or register to post comments

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