Posted by Stephen on 08-10-2006 14:27
#1
This fly struck me as very odd. It was hard to photograph as it walked very, very quickly up and down the leaf it was on, stopping very seldom and then only for a second.
Length, 2.75 mm. On a leaf on a plant in the woods beside a stream. West Virginia USA.
ID help would be appreciated. I looked at a few thousand photos on BugGuide and couldn't find anything similar. Surely the antennae are the key, but where have I seen antennae like that?
Posted by Gerard Pennards on 08-10-2006 14:54
#2
Yep, I agree, very odd!:D No, I'm just kidding Stephen!
It's not a fly at all, but a chalcidoid wasp from the family Encyrtidae!;)
Greetings,
Posted by Stephen on 08-10-2006 15:04
#3
Ha, Fooled again. The wasp idea had occurred to me briefly but I rejected it because the insect has such large and fly-like (to me) eyes. Thank-you Gerard for setting me straight. This does explain why my looking at a few thousand fly pictures didn't help!