Asian Long-Legged Fly

Description:

His size ranges from 1-9 mm in length. And as you can see he has nice long legs and a slender build. Most of the species are a metallic green and blue or a metallic green and bronze. Some may be a yellow that is non-metallic as well. There is over 6500 described species and 200 genera of this little guy and he is found in all zoogeographic regions. Here in the United States there is about 1300 species and 57 genera. The larvae is white and looks a lot like a maggot. Its front end is creeping and it’s back end is truncated. The pupae has a long pair of dorsal prothoracic respiratory horns and a pair of frontofacial sutures. When the final instar spins a cocoon it incapsulates soil particles and pieces of debris from the earth into it’s little package. You have to wonder what the does by design. Nature is so amazing!

Habitat:

Typically the long legged fly is found in wet areas. If you live round the river, you would find them here. Many species like to be under trees and other vertical surfaces. The larvae of course will be in soil that is moist, leafs, moss, mud, under bark, tree hole debris plant tissue, decaying seaweed, sap wounds ad algal mats. And then there are the species that we find ourselves most familiar with, the little guy that likes a drier climate and grasslands or urban gardens. These little guys react very quickly to environmental change, therefore making them a useful tool for site quality assessment in the field of conservation and planning and development.