Ornate Snipe Fly – Chrysopolis ornatus

Female dorsal

Family Rhagionidae – Snipe Flies
Live male and female specimens photographed at Ogle County, Illinois. Size: Female= 13mm, Male= 11mm

The ornate snipe fly is certainly one beautiful fly. This is a large female at 13mm, found flying about amidst low foliage along a forest path. I found her male counterpart there as well. All I ever see them do is sit; all show and no go, so to speak.

Male dorsal

Within the superfamily Tabanoidea, family Rhagionidae is recognized as a monophyletic group consisting of four subfamilies: Arthrocerinae, Chrysopilinae, Rhagioninae, and Spaniinae. There are at least 15 recognized genera. Subfamily Arthrocerinae consists of a single genus [3].

This female looks decidedly pregnant.

Flies in Rhagionidae have slender, tapered often pubescent bodies and stilt-like legs. The mouthparts are adapted for piercing and some species (i.e. those in genus Symphoromyia, commonly called “Rocky Mountain bite flies”) are haematophagous (blood-sucking) as adults, and attack humans and other large mammals, while others are predatory on other insects.

References

Bugguide.net, Ornate Snipe Fly
Bugguide.net, Ornate Snipe Fly – Chrysopilus ornatus –
Bugguide.net, Snipe Fly Chrysopilus modestus
Kerr, Peter H. 2010. Zootaxa, Phylogeny and classification of Rhagionidae, with implications… Zootaxa 133: 1 – 133.

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