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red-tan fungus growing from between the body segments of blow fly
Calliphoridae sp.
The fungus enters the blow fly's brain and causes it to land upside down on the bottom of leaves and spread its wings before the fungus kills the fly. I had hundreds of flies like this in my front and back garden. A friend 6-7 blocks away did not so the epidemic may have been highly local. Since blow flies love our compost bin when meat is put into it and the highest concentration of dead flies was very near our compost bin, perhaps the flies were infected in our compost. the photo with the desicated eyes (5th) is the most spooky Entomophthora sp.?
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