Stilt-legged Fly

Description:

Micropezidae, commonly known as stilt flies, are long-bodied, long-legged and often black flies usually with infuscated wings. The stilt-legged flies are wasp-mimics. They have "antennae feet", their front legs, that they hold aloft so that they look like antennae. This aids in their wasp mimicry. Many species (for example those of genus Mimegralla) are known for their habit of standing motionless while waving their prominently marked front legs in front of their head, a behavior which contributes to their mimicry of wasps.

Habitat:

Backyard, spotted on a leaf that was wet with rain water.

Notes:

IDd before as Gongylocephala pallida (Steyskal, 1947), family Micropezidae, subfamily Eurybatinae; ssp endemic to the Philippines is Gongylocephala pallida luzonica. However, this could also be Mimegralla albimana subfamily Tylidae (http://www.flickr.com/photos/baeng/54168...). Reference: http://collections.si.edu/search/results..., http://taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl/TaxonTree.... http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/aocat/pdf/54.... http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/.... http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/.... http://zeus.calacademy.org:8080/CAS+Frid....