Celyphid Beetle Fly

Celyphus sp.

Description:

I have spotted this kind of fly, several times, in recent years, but all of my previous spottings were in our front garden. Today, I saw several Celyphus sp. on the leaves of a Mango Tree in the farm. So, I am hoping that this strange little creature is increasing its numbers here. I have become rather fond of it (I never thought I would say such words about flies, which I generally do not like). The first two photos shown above are of the same Celyphid Beetle Fly. Some others were more nervous and flew higher up into the canopy, leaving me without any pictures of them. I intend to return later today and try, if possible, to get two or even three in one photo. I think that would be helpful, in terms of confirming that their numbers seem to be increasing here. P.S. I returned to the Mango Tree in the late afternoon and did not get any shots showing more than one Beetle Fly, but I saw many more than I had seen in the morning. So, I have added some additional photos to this spotting. I don't know how long these flies will hang around this tree, but I will wait for a day or two and try to take some more photos which I will place in a new spotting. I am just so happy, to see what appears to be an increase in the population (in our local area) of this fly, that I want to do whatever I can to create a record of what I have observed. I have not seen any scientific information suggesting that this fly is especially rare, but I have not noticed any others posted on Project Noah from the Philippines. I realise, of course, that this does not mean that it is rare. It just means that no one has posted any spottings of it. So, I might be getting all excited about nothing :-)

Habitat:

Spotted in the farm on a Mango Tree (Mangifera indica Linn.) locally known as Mangang-kalabau. Plant information from - http://www.stuartxchange.org/Mangga.html........