Metz's Stiletto Fly
Female, dorsal, wings closed
Ellura
Metz's Stiletto Fly
Female, profile
 
                      
Metz's Stiletto Fly (Laxotela metzi)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Flies (Diptera)
Family: Stiletto Fly (Therevidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Metz's Stiletto Fly (Laxotela metzi)
This Photo:     🔍Female, dorsal, wings open🔎

Thank you Dr Shaun Winterton for identifying and Dr Chris Lambkin for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
1st Live Photo on-line
1st Record on Atlas

~9mm long.
Shaun said "Overall a good match, but those setae beside the antennae are are extending further down (as parafacials even) than any other specimen I seen of this species."
Chris said "Femoral velutum very hard to see as legs are folded, keys OK otherwise (as female lacking most defining characters!)"

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 13-Oct-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.