Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Diptera Mimicry

Posted by Tony T on 25-09-2007 13:45
#1
A classic Bumblebee mimic by the syrphid: Syrphidae > Arctophila bombiformis (female)
SEE: HERE

Posted by Rui Andrade on 28-09-2007 13:04
#2
Wasplike syrphids

http://www.dipter...post_40278

Wasplike conopid

http://www.dipter...post_40326

Posted by Alvesgaspar on 02-10-2007 15:10
#3
Sepsidae flies mimic winged ants quite well, like this one (a Australosepsis sp.?)

Joaquim Gaspar

Posted by Tony Irwin on 02-10-2007 20:25
#4
Tony T wrote:
crex wrote:
Crawfish mimicry? Grin

I think we can put this in the same league as the "Alligator Bug" (Homoptera: Fulgora laternaria), the head of which does look like an alligator and would be great mimicry apart from the discrepancy of habitat and size between the model and mimicShock.


Perhaps we should look at this again - particularly at the newly-posted gallery image of Rhagoletis completa (see http://www.dipter...to_id=2344).
While I was scanning recent posts, I saw the thumbnail image of this picture out of the corner of my eye, and wondered why someone had posted an image of a scorpion (rather than a crayfish)- perhaps a potential predator might make the same mistake, and leave it alone? Smile
Edited by Tony Irwin on 02-10-2007 20:28

Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 02-10-2007 23:12
#5
Tony T wrote:
crex wrote:
If I remember correctly some Tephritidae mimics Salticidae spiders!?

Need a photo of a Rhagoletis from behindGrin
According to Marshall "the wing-banding pattern....seen from behind.. makes the fly look remarkedly like a jumping spider (the bands look like spider legs)"
Who wants to tangle with a jumping spider?

Edit: Further reading indicates that the mimicry is to fool jumping spiders as these spiders are the major predators. "Greene et al. (1987) and Whitman et al. (1988) showed that Z. vittigera mimics jumping spiders and is significantly protected from these common predators on its host plant. During the fly's wing flicking displays, its wing pattern resembles the legs and the abdominal spots the eyes of a spider in its own territorial display."

See: Reference here



Tony, really this is quite distinctive. Even in dorsal view (see the back of the fly) it seems a salticid spider!! (very convincing) . See here >>
http://www.dipter...to_id=2344

Posted by kyl on 03-02-2008 21:09
#6
When i saw the picture of Rhagoletis from afar, (or without glasses Pfft)it looks like a spider backwards.. The bold bands on the wings as the spider forelegs and the fly's head as the spider's abdomen....

What about Celyphidae? Does looking like a beetle confer any protection? And I believe their flight isnt that great either?as mentioned in the Threads.

Posted by LakeSide on 24-04-2008 15:07
#7
Eristalis intricaria as bumblebee mimic:
farm2.static.flickr.com/1343/1231805413_42c9d54819.jpg

and Xylota segnis does a good sawfly impression IMO

farm3.static.flickr.com/2249/2436268832_39f712c230.jpg

Posted by AaronS on 28-11-2018 06:14
#8
The nice pair of lateral + dorsal photos that Tony T posted earlier in this thread (see below) show a very dark specimen of Physocephala furcillata...which is pretty much the only conopine that seems to make it as far northeast as New Brunswick in North America.

Tony T wrote:
This is a North American Physocephala sp. (Conopidae) that closely resembles a Potter Wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae).

diptera.info/forum/attachments/fly23.jpg

In fact, when I first saw this fly on a flower I thought it was a Potter wasp.
Length: 10.5mm excluding antennae. 19 September 2007, New Brunswick, Canada.