Big Head Fly! - Compsomyiops callipes

Moved

… Even Dankowicz, 26 August, 2020 - 11:17am

I would have been almost posi

I would have been almost positive this is Compsomyiops callipes; it's a bit harder for females but nonetheless. I'd be curious to hear Dr. Whitworth's thoughts on this.

… Even Dankowicz, 20 November, 2018 - 4:58pm

from T.L. Whitworth: "This is C. macellaria.

"The head view is distorted making the frons look too broad and the antennae too short, but the stripes on the thorax match perfectly. Incidentally, if this was hominvorax, the central stripe would be much shorter."

Moved from Screwworm Flies.

… v belov, 16 May, 2011 - 4:06pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… v belov, 16 May, 2011 - 11:55am

Cochliomyia

Looks like a screwworm fly, Cochliomyia.

… Ben Coulter, 12 May, 2011 - 9:43pm

Thanks, Ben

I thought it might be, but it looked quite different from the type I have seen before. The cheeks have the same color, but the others I have seen before were smaller, greener, narrower, and with more stripes. Thanks for the help!

… Arthur Scott Macmillan, 15 May, 2011 - 10:41pm

Cochliomyia species

As far as I know, there are only two representatives of Cochliomyia in the US, and the primary screwworm fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax) was intensively eradicated in the US by the 1960s, leaving only C. macellaria, the secondary screwworm fly.

By all means, you should have Dr. Whitworth double check the ID. Do you have photos of the other type?

… Ben Coulter, 15 May, 2011 - 10:57pm

Hi, Ben!

Other than being fooled by the perspective the flies I see in the area just seem bluer, wider, and with less distinctly marked lines then the ones I have seen in the past which seemed much greener, narrower, ect...

I was pretty sure there were no other likely candidate except C. macellaria, but I wanted to double check.

I do have an example of one that seemed different to me. I took this series of photos in neighboring Santa Clara County. I am going to review them again myself to convince myself they are the same species!

I should mention that the ones taken in Santa Clara are of a male, and maybe that is what threw me.

… Arthur Scott Macmillan, 29 May, 2011 - 11:22pm

You know, I really should try hard to document these guys

...because for some reason, here in Santa Cruz (on the coast) These secondary screworm flies are very much more common than in Santa Clara Valley on the other side of the coastal mountain range. I see almost as many of these as bottle blowflies. So I've come to wonder about the seemingly different appearance of the blues with much less color on the thorax, and the Greens with a lot more color on the thorax.

… Arthur Scott Macmillan, 13 February, 2015 - 2:51pm