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Zelia vertebrata
A type of bristle fly. Whether or not this is Zelia vertebrata or the "undescribed species" reported similar to it (as mentioned in the bugguide article) is unknown and may not be possible to tell.
Found at Cadron Settlement park near Conway, Arkansas at dusk. It was beside the Arkansas river. It was September and still very warm and humid out.
This took eons to get an i.d. for. I owe a ton of thanks to a member of an Insect Identification group for it. I can't find data on how common they are, but I feel as though I've caught a rarity!
Spotted on Sep 10, 2019
Submitted on Sep 16, 2019
8 Comments
I've never submitted to bugguide, but Ive thought about it... I use them like crazy!
That is an unusual fly! A couple weeks ago, I photographed what I thought was a flesh fly and BugGuide ID'd as a parasitic fly - they are very helpful!
@Neil Ross: Thank you! Knowledge is always worth the wait!
Excellent spotting, Matthew, and well done for pursuing an ID! That is always time well-spent. I quite often go to external groups for ID assistance, and for one of my spottings it actually took 2 years before I could officially put a name to it. Congratulations on your SOTW nomination.
I'm honored! Thank you so much!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Nice find Matthew. Definitely a snappy looking Tachinid.
Impressive spotting Mathew!