Family Tephritidae - Fruit Flies

Picture-winged Flies (not recommended, as the name is more commonly applied to Ulidiidae, formerly Otitidae)

301 species in 55 genera in North America listed at nearctica.com

Arnett lists 300 species for North America. (1)

body length 2-12 mm

Many species have highly-patterned wings. These are used by males for courtship and may also be defensive. SEL-USDA--mentions mimicry of jumping spiders by fruit flies. The wing-waving apparently deters the approach of jumping spiders, important predators of the flies.

Other species have brightly-patterned bodies, and may mimic wasps.

Larvae live in a variety of fruit, seeds (often Asteraceae), are leaf miners, or cause galls.

"Spider predation has been intense enough to mold the evolution of prey characteristics: predation by salticids (jumping spiders) has shaped the morphology and behavior of some tephritid flies. Their wing markings resemble the pattern of the legs of jumping spiders; the flies also wave their wings in a fashion that appears to mimic the agonistic behavior of salticids - making them 'proverbial sheep in wolf's clothing' (Greene, Orsak & Whitman 1987, Mather & Roitberg 1987)."

David H. Wise, Spiders In Ecological Webs

Arnett, p.p. 891-893 (1)

Swan and Papp, pp. 625-628 (2)

Borror and White, p. 288, plate 14 (3)

Tephritidae--USDA

Insects of Cedar Creek

detailed descriptions of adults of many species (L.E. Carroll et al, Pest Fruit Flies of the World - Adults, delta-intkey.com)

detailed descriptions of larvae of many species (L.E. Carroll et al, Pest Fruit Flies of the World - Larvae, delta-intkey.com)