Dance Flies

Empididae

Dance flies are fun little insects that love to dance in the air! They have long legs and can be seen flitting around flowers and plants, making them look like they are having a party.

Hábitat: Grasslands

Aspecto

The Dance Flies typically have slender bodies, long legs, and large, prominent eyes that often meet at the top of their heads. Their coloring ranges from drab browns and grays to metallic greens or black, with some species displaying distinct markings or fuzzy leg ornaments, making them visually unique among common flies.

ReinoAnimaliaFiloArthropodaClaseInsectaOrdenDipteraFamiliaEmpididae

Dance Flies

Categoría

Insectos

Rareza

Common

Peligro

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Snaps

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Datos interesantes

Males sometimes offer empty silk 'gifts' to trick females into mating!

Some dance flies wear fluffy leg decorations just to impress their partners!

These tiny acrobats can stop in mid-air and hover perfectly still!

They are ancient aerial predators, hunting other insects for millions of years!

Habilidades especiales

Dance Flies can catch other flying insects in mid-air because of their exceptional agility and sharp eyesight.

Males can offer silk-wrapped 'gifts' (often prey) to females, which helps them secure a mate.

Dance Flies perform complex aerial dances in swarms that help them find mates and confuse predators.

Medidas y detalles

Envergadura: 4-30 mm
Tamaño: 2-15 mm
Esperanza de vida: 15-45 días
Velocidad de vuelo: 10 km/h
Cantidad de patas: 6

Dieta y alimentación

Dance Flies are insectivores, mostly preying on other small insects they catch in flight.

Alimentos principales

midges
mosquitoes
aphids
small flies
nectar

Método de búsqueda

Pursuit

Conexiones ecológicas

hunts

non-biting midge

Chironomus plumosus

Many dance fly species actively prey on adult midges.

hunts

yellow fever mosquito

Aedes aegypti

Dance flies help control mosquito populations by catching them.

eaten by

garden spider

Araneus diadematus

Dance flies can become entangled in spider webs and eaten.

eaten by

great tit

Parus major

Small birds, like tits, often feed on various flying insects.

Rasgos

Social

Los animales sociales viven en grupos organizados, cooperando para obtener beneficios de supervivencia como la búsqueda de alimento, la defensa y la cría de descendencia.

Aéreo

Las criaturas aéreas pasan una parte importante de su vida en el aire, utilizando el vuelo para diversas actividades como la caza, la migración o la anidación.