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Family Mydidae - Mydas Flies

mydas fly - Mydas clavatus Mydas Fly - Mydas clavatus Mydas sp. - Mydas - male Mydas Fly - Mydas clavatus Tarantula hawk mimic - Mydas - female unknown  bug - Mydas clavatus Wasp or Robber Fly? - Mydas clavatus Mydas Fly - Mydas clavatus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Orthorrhapha" (Brachycera excluding Aschiza and Schizophora))
Superfamily Asiloidea
Family Mydidae (Mydas Flies)
Size
1-6 cm
Identification
Large flies, often wasp mimics.
Range
Worldwide in temperate and tropical regions.
Habitat
Variable, often open habitats, but some do live in tropical rainforests.
Season
Summer in temperate regions.
Food
Some adults, especially males, take nectar. Adults, long thought to be predatory, are perhaps not! Some females do not feed as adults. Larvae are predators of larval beetles, mostly.
Life Cycle
Eggs are laid in soil or dead wood with beetle larvae.
Remarks
Alcock, pp. 124-126, discusses Batesian mimicry of large spider wasps (Pompilidae: genera Pepsis, Hemipepsis, called "Tarantula Hawks") by Mydas flies (1)

Seems that Mydas clavatus is likely a mimic of the Pompilid wasp, Anoplius, which see.

Guide TBA--PC (print references)
Internet References
Mydas Fly Home Page--excellent discussion of the family
Works Cited
1.Sonoran Desert Summer
By John Alcock, Marilyn Hoff Stewart