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Family Micropezidae - Stilt-legged Flies

Mulitcolored Ant? from Armleder Park, Cincinnati, OH - Taeniaptera trivittata ID Please - Rainieria antennaepes Thick-headed Fly? - Taeniaptera trivittata small wasp - Taeniaptera Taeniaptera trivittata - male - female Rainieria antennaepes mating - Rainieria antennaepes - male - female red eye with stinger - Rainieria antennaepes - female Micropeza producta  - Micropeza producta - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Acalyptratae")
Superfamily Nerioidea
Family Micropezidae (Stilt-legged Flies)
Other Common Names
Small-footed Flies
Explanation of Names
Micropezidae Blanchard 1840
Numbers
>30 spp. in 9 genera in our area(1), ~600 spp. in >50 genera worldwide(2)
Size
4-15 mm
Identification
Known for their walking around and lifting their prominently marked front legs imitating ichneumon wasps(3)
review of our fauna, with keys, in(4)
key to western spp. in(5)

The vertical row of bristles above the base of the mid leg puts this fly in subfamily Taeniapterinae [comment by John F. Carr]
Range
Worldwide, much more diverse in the tropics, poorly represented in cooler climes(3)
Habitat
Moist areas, marshes, wet woods
Food
Adults of some species are attracted to rotting fruit or dung; in other species adults are predaceous; larvae saprophagous
Print References
Merritt R.W. (1972) Geographic distribution of Micropezidae in the western United States (Diptera). Northwest Sci. 46: 40-43. (Full text)
Internet References
key to genera, family page by Herschel Raney
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Order Diptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification...
Pape T., Blagoderov V., Mostovski M.B. 2011. Zootaxa 3148: 222–229.
3.Insects: Their Natural History And Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America
Stephen A. Marshall. 2006. Firefly Books Ltd.
4.The Neriidae and Micropezidae of America north of Mexico (Diptera)
Cresson E.T. 1938. Trans. Am. Entl. Soc. 64: 293-366.
5.The Micropezidae of California (Diptera)
Merritt R., James M.T. 1973. Bull. Calif. Insect Survey 14: 1-29.