Celyphid Beetle Fly

Description:

This Celyphus sp. was my first encounter with a Celyphid and I had no idea what it was. Its mouth parts were disproportionately large and resembled an elephant's trunk. Its body and legs were light brownish - orange and on its back there was a brown shell-like cover which reminded me of the wing case of Plataspid Bugs. It was crawling (or rather running) on a Pomelo (Citrus maxima) and appeared to be using its long mouth to suck or lick the bark. The entire time I watched it, this sucking activity continued and I remember wondering how it managed to avoid damaging its mouth parts which were in continuous contact with the bark as it scurried along. This little creature initially had me completely puzzled and I started erroneously searching through Hemiptera and Coleoptera to no avail. Then I noticed that there was something about the eyes and the antennae - they looked familiar. I suddenly realized, in some disbelief, that I was looking at a Fly. After that, it was only a matter of working my way through the Diptera until I found it.

Habitat:

It was spotted in our front yard on a Citrus maxima tree which was of considerable age. This tree had been planted and grown in a large ceramic plant pot. So it was not a big tree despite its age. The tree had both mature branches and some newer younger growth, but the Celyphid did not seem to differentiate these or display any preferences. It just kept up this non-stop display of rushing along and eating. It was fascinating to watch

Notes:

What I said in Description about this being my first spotting of a Celyphid was erroneous. I later found an earlier set of pictures which I had filed, in my computer, under Unidentified Arthropods and forgot about it. So this is actually my second spotting. I thought it best to just add this note (rather than change the narrative in Description above) because I was worried that more previous observations might turn up and cause more confusion. Sorry :-)