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Photo#93726
Black Fly - Mydas ventralis

Black Fly - Mydas ventralis
Skull Valley, AZ, USA (WSW of Prescott 10 miles), Yavapai County, Arizona, USA
July 31, 2006
Size: guess 1.5"
Note that the dorsal surface of abodmine is red. How does one tell Flys from Wasps?

Moved
Moved from Mydas Flies.

Interesting critter
To me, it looks a lot like a robber fly and a bit like a mydas fly.

I bought a small, used, cheap book Peterson First Guide to Insects, and you should probably pick one up. You won't use it long, but it's filled with stuff like fly vs. wasp.

The first thing you'll hear is that a fly has two wings, a wasp or bee four. That never helped much.

Flies usually have a short antenna; yours is an exception.

The wasp waist is another typical marker.

Of course, there are flies that mimic wasps and bees, sometimes I think just to totally confuse us!

 
Thanks Ron!
I was in the library yesterday and scanned thru several that they had. Checked out a couple on Moths & Butterflies. I do have an old limited coverage one on insects.

not a wasp
its a fly

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