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Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Calligraphy in the prairie

  

Eric spotted these tiny flies hovering among the grasses in a coastal prairie site up in Mendocino County on 11 September 2022.  Although they were quite small, when they landed it was easy to appreciate the beautiful colors and patterning on their abdomens and the light reflections in their wings.

We don't have experience with this group of flies, but our best guess right now is that they are Margined Calligraphers (Toxomerus marginatus). 

A couple more views:

 
 
Thanks to Eric for his excellent fly-spotting!  
 

6 comments:

Unknown said...

And super duper photography skills so can all enjoy!

Manne said...

Eric, beautiful fotos and lovely flies!!!! Am saving and will try and draw them…..

Peter Connors said...

Jackie, I never knew flies could be so beautiful. Very Art Deco.

Alice Chan said...

What a beautiful name for this handsome critter!

Jackie Sones said...

Hi, everyone!

Thanks for all of the enthusiasm for these flies!

:) Jackie

Jason Sadowski said...

The patterning of the second fly is amazing! Even better in the profile view!
I love hoverflies. Thank you for sharing!