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Photo#456239
Predatory Fungus Gnat - Macrocera - male

Predatory Fungus Gnat - Macrocera - Male
Lacey (near Olympia), Thurston County, Washington, USA
August 13, 2010

Images of this individual: tag all
Predatory Fungus Gnat - Macrocera - male Predatory Fungus Gnat - Macrocera - male Predatory Fungus Gnat - Macrocera - male

Possibly Macrocera garretti
Possibly Macrocera garretti ( = pilosa Garrett 1925:8). I don't know if it's possible to tell from these pictures. Garrett's descriptions are terse and many of his names turned out to be synonyms.

cool; puzzled me -- thanks, Bjoern
Moved from Tipulomorpha.

 
hmmm...
However, it does beg the question: Just how fast or how tough of a predator do you have to be to catch fungus?? Unless you're eating the wrong kind of 'shrooms, I wouldn't think the fungus would appear to move much at all!

And I'm glad I had one that finally puzzled you v! :)

 
Bighorn gnat
The scientific name is accurate, at least: all American members of Macrocera have big (macro) horns (cera).

Unfortunately I don't think the genus has been revised in a century and species ID is not practical. The regional key of Shaw and Fisher 1952 appears to give different names to male and female of the same species if applied to photographs here.

 
PredatOrPrey
Well, the trivial name refers to larvae only and reflects partly the truth: Within Keroplatidae are also mycophagous species known. But Macrocera larvae represent the predaceous forms. They spin a web with droplets of acid fluids, which kill their prey (small invertebrates like springtails). You may have heard about Arachnocampa, a cave dweller, which larvae glow to attract potential prey to their webs.

so long,

"Predatory Fungus Gnat"
It is Macrocera sp. (Keroplatidae).

so long,
xylo

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