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Photo#820743
Ant-mimic , fly ? - Tritoxa

Ant-mimic , fly ? - Tritoxa
Lake Alpine, Alpine County, California, USA
August 8, 2013
Size: 1/4"
It was so neat to find a new insect and this one was quite strange and energetic ! This little fly ran around on a fallen tree limb with his wings held high waving them back and forth as if dancing . I presume that this is a male because of this behavior but did not see any others of his kind on the log , just some ants . It seemed very curious and ran up to my camera and posed for a brief second while looking up at me . It ran up and down the limb swiftly and when it did fly it did not go far landing on the limb again to continue his dance ; running back and forth with his wings held high .

Moved
Moved from Tritoxa.

Moved
Moved from Tritoxa cuneata.

 
Tritoxa cuneata complex
Tritoxa californica or Tritoxa cuneata, hard to tell due to angle.

Moved
Moved from Tritoxa.

Moved
Moved from Flies.

Tritoxa
Tritoxa, family Ulidiidae. The wing pattern (3-4 white diagonal stripes on the brown background) is distinctive for this genus.

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

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