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Family Therevidae - Stiletto Flies

unknown fly Unique fly for area - Thereva Ozodiceromyia livdahli - female Fly - Thereva Thereva? - Thereva Stiletto fly? Male, Breviperna placida? - male Ozodiceromyia?
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Orthorrhapha)
Superfamily Asiloidea
Family Therevidae (Stiletto Flies)
Explanation of Names
Therevidae Newman 1834
see Thereva
Common name refers to narrow, tapering abdomen
Numbers
~150 spp. in 30 genera in our area(1), >1,600 spp. in >120 genera of 4 subfamilies worldwide(2)(3)
Size
2.5‒15 mm(1)
Identification
Larva
Range
cosmopolitan, most diverse in Australia(5)
Habitat
usually open areas: adults on foliage, flowers, dry ground along sandy areas; larvae in sand or decaying wood(1)
Food
Adults are nectar feeders; larvae prey on soil arthropods(2)
Remarks
The long, serpentine larvae hunt rapidly slithering through soil and may be mistaken for potworms or earthworms(6)
See Also
similar to robber flies (Asilidae) but without the beard, have more slender legs and no depression between the eyes(1)
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Stiletto Flies of the World
3.An annotated catalogue of the New World Therevidae (Zootaxa 3600 (1): 001 – 105 )
DONALD W. WEBB, STEPHEN D. GAIMARI, MARTIN HAUSER, KEVIN C. HOLSTON, MARK A. METZ, MICHAEL E. IRWIN, GAIL E. KAMPMEIER & KRISTIN. 2013. Magnolia Press.
4.Therevidae home page
5.Australian Faunal Directory
6.Hidden Company that Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips
James B. Nardi. 2023. Princeton University Press.