Small Scarab Fly
Ventral
Ellura
Brown Nose Fly
S5, Male, dorsal
 
                      
Brown Nose Fly (Metallea incisuralis)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Flies (Diptera)
Family: Nose Fly (Rhiniidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Brown Nose Fly (Metallea incisuralis)
This Photo:     S1, Male, In the field

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Riverland and elsewhere
While both genders are ~8mm long, the male we measured was slightly smaller than the female. As with many fly species, the genders can be separated by the distance between the eyes; male eyes almost touching on top, female eyes well apart. Of course, genitalia has something to do with it, but that's harder to see in the field with flies

In the field they can be identified by a greenish gold velvet on their backs that wears in the middle showing a metallic bronze body.
The common name comes from the protruding lower part of the face, looking like a nose.

Copyright © 2014-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 26-Mar-2014
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.