Stalk eyed fly

Description:

App. 4-5 mm in length. First stalk eyed fly I have seen in Swaziland.

Habitat:

Grass and thickets on an overgrown road leading to a river.

Notes:

There are more than one hundred species in the Diopsidae, with the greatest diversity found in the Old World tropics. Adult diopsids are typically found on low-lying vegetation in humid areas, often near streams and rivers, where they feed on fungi and bacteria that they scavenge from decaying vegetation. The larvae are saprophagic or phytophagous, eating decaying and fresh plant matter.