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Boatman Fly

Pogonortalis doclea

Description:

A tiny fly, about 3 or 4 mm in length (much smaller than a house fly). Seen in my backyard on a garden pot in Southern NSW, not far from Nowra.

Notes:

Named because of its habit of slowly moving its wings back and forth like oars!

5 Comments

CindyBinghamKeiser
CindyBinghamKeiser 12 years ago

LOL, I rather enjoy this little fly! It's so unique in its wing movement and had great eyes!

Steve A
Steve A 12 years ago

@ Cindy - beat me to it! Thanks so much for identifying this fly. Sorry about exporting it to the USA!!

CindyBinghamKeiser
CindyBinghamKeiser 12 years ago

I just saw these originated in Australia and were introduced to Cali!

Steve A
Steve A 12 years ago

Cindy - half a world away, but they do look almost identical, right down to the line across the eye. I will look into it to see if we have these locally. Thanks

CindyBinghamKeiser
CindyBinghamKeiser 12 years ago

I'm not 100% sure but I have a spotting very similar at: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/723... They move their wings forward and back like oars!

Steve A
Spotted by
Steve A

New South Wales, Australia

Spotted on Dec 28, 2011
Submitted on Dec 29, 2011

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