| <<Return to list |
|
Scientific Name: Villa sp.
|
Common Name: (a bee fly)
|
Family: Bombyliidae
|
Description: A female bee fly (Villa sp.) filling her "sand chamber" or "psammophore" in the fire road just northwest of pHake Lake.
|
Notes: According to Andy Calderwood: "The 'sand chamber' or 'psammophore', is a ventral abdominal pocket into which the eggs are laid, and a feature unique to "higher" Bombyliidae. It is said that eggs are coated with sand in the chamber to fascilitate release later. I think that, given the relative size of sand grains and Bombyliid eggs, the reverse is true: the tiny eggs coat sand grains in the chamber, which are heavy and easier to toss with accuracy, kind of like sticking a piece of gum to a baseball."
|
Location: Bernard Field Station
|
BFS Area: Central CSS
|
Photo Type: Animal--Insect
|
Photographer: Nancy Hamlett
|
Date Taken: 2014-08-17
|
Upload Date: 2014-09-03 06:54:34
|
| <<Return to list |
