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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Calyptratae » Oestroidea » Flesh Flies (Sarcophagidae) » Sarcophaginae » Sarcophaga
Photo#159675
Fly - Sarcophaga
Copyright © 2007 Sam Houston

Fly - Sarcophaga
Sand Springs, Osage County, Oklahoma, USA
December 3, 2007
Size: 6mm (1/4")
This fly is interesting. The night before I took this pic the temp got down to around 20F. I would have thought this would be enough to freeze it to death....apparently not. The other thing I thought was odd was I took this pic at night. There were no porch lights or anything where I found it. Why would a fly be messing around at night ?

Oh yea, please help with ID.

Images of this individual: tag all
Fly - Sarcophaga Fly - Sarcophaga
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Contributed by Sam Houston on 4 December, 2007 - 11:18am
Last updated 5 December, 2007 - 11:46am

Moved
Moved from Flesh Flies.
… Sam Houston, 5 December, 2007 - 11:46am login or register to post comments

Looks like Sarcophaga
Female flesh fly, I'd say. Nice shot!
… Ron Hemberger, 4 December, 2007 - 12:45pm login or register to post comments

 
Gender
Ron, just picking your brain. How did you get gender. I see the eyes are wide apart (image 2). I wasn't sure if there is also any body shape to differentiate gender. Or is it done by eyes alone?
Sam, keeping you in the conversation too. Here is a good image for eye comparison.
… John R. Maxwell, 4 December, 2007 - 12:57pm login or register to post comments

 
Eye looked very small in the side view.
Actually, John, I could be wrong on this. With only a top view, I wouldn't have commented on gender. (Have you seen Beatriz' article on determining gender? I'll bet so. Typically, I'm using eyes alone, with some syrphids being a notable exception.)

And now, minutes later, I recant. I have no idea as to gender after viewing this post:
… Ron Hemberger, 4 December, 2007 - 1:06pm login or register to post comments

 
Great article
I refer to it all of the time.
Still, it seems as though it is a tough family. Here are some more I have a hard time with eyes, and yet the first image I posted eyes seemed obvious.
… John R. Maxwell, 4 December, 2007 - 2:02pm login or register to post comments

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