common snipe fly

Common snipe fly is common in the United States east of the Great Plains and in adjacent Canadian provinces.

Adults are small and dark, males ¼″ to ⅜″ (7 to 9 mm) long, females a little smaller, ¼″ to 5 ⁄16″(6 to 8 mm) long.

The antennae have three segments. The third segment is more or less rounded, is not divided by rings (annulated), and bears a long, slender style at the end. On the male, the compound eyes are large and meet at the top of the head. On the female, they are smaller and do not meet.

The thorax is pale with three dark longitudinal stripes. The center stripe is the widest but is divided longitudinally by a thin pale line.

The abdomen is dark and somewhat tapered toward the end. Each abdominal segment has a narrow yellowish ring at the end. On some individuals, the first one or two segments are mostly yellow above (dorsally).

The wings are mostly clear with two dark horizontal bands, dark along the veins, and dark tips. The lobes at the base of the wing that cover the haltere (calypters) are small.

The legs are very long and slender. The fourth segment (tibia) of the front legs is mostly pale with a dark tip. The tibia on the middle legs is usually brown. The last part of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has three segments. The last segment has three pads at the end.

Male: ¼″ to ⅜″ (7 to 9 mm)

Female: ¼″ to 5 ⁄16″(6 to 8 mm)

Woodlands, areas with dense vegetation

May through June

Larvae are found in decaying vegetation.

Insects

Insects

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Common

Infraorder
Orthorrhapha was historically one of two infraorders of Brachycera, a suborder of Diptera. However, Brachycera did not contain all of the descendants of the last common ancestor (paraphyletic). It was split into five extant (still existing) and one extinct infraorder. Orthorrhapha is now considered obsolete and has not been used in decades, but it persists in printed literature and on some online sources. A recent revision of the order Diptera (Pope, et al., 2011) revived the name Orthorrhapha, but this has not been widely accepted.

Snipe Fly (Rhagionidae: Rhagio mystaceus?) in the Spotlight
Carl Barrentine

Alfredo Colon
6/10/2024

Location: Albany, NY

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota