Auteur: Jean and Fred Hort
Beschrijving:
The low light under the trees provided the perfect place for these flies.
Here a Hanging-fly (Scorpion fly) has caught a Cranefly for a gift for a female. I wonder if the bumps on the end of the abdomen are vesicles emitting pheremones to attract a female hanging-fly.
See: Wikipedia
"The following is a description by Gullen and Cranston[5] of the mating habits of the Bittacidae:
Food items such as caterpillars, bugs, and flies are offered to be eaten during copulation. The female is first attracted by a pheromone emitted by one or more vesicles or pouches at the end of the male's abdomen. When the female is near, the vesicles are retracted. The female examines the offering while the male searches for her genitalia with his own. If the gift is rejected, the female flies away. If the gift is accepted, the genitalia of the male couples with that of the female, who lowers herself until she is hanging upside down. She consumes the offering during copulation. The male supports the female by holding her legs or the prey. Field observations show that both sexes mate several times per day. Small or unacceptable offerings result in no or a very short copulation time. Duration depends on the size of the gift. It has been observed that prey 3 to 14 mm long will provide 1 to 17 minutes of copulation in Hylobittacus apicalis. Larger H. apicalis give prey the size of houseflies in return for 20 to 29 minutes of copulation. This results in a maximum sperm transfer, increased oviposition, and a refractory period."
Photo: Fred
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