Water Floating Fly
Profile, ~4mm
Water Floating Fly
Legs used as Rafts
| Water Floating Fly Profile, ~4mm | | Water Floating Fly Legs used as Rafts | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Flies (Diptera) | ||||
| Family: | Shore Fly (Ephydridae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Water Floating Fly (Brachydeutera sydneyensis) | ||||
| This Photo: | Anterior | ||||
Thank you Niels-Jan Dek for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills and elsewhere Small light brown & white fly regularly seen floating on water. They float there lapping up water with their elongated mouths at a very rapid rate; so getting 2 drinking at once was pure luck. Took so many photo's to get one with the mouth actually touching the water and in reasonable focus. They are so light they can float on 4 legs while using the front, or rear, pair to clean themselves. Similar Species: Long Legged Fly (Hydrophorus praecox) | |||||
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