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Insect. At 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long, the Delhi-sands flower loving fly is one of the largest flies in the world. Hovering like hummingbirds, flower-loving flies use their long, tubular proboscis (a flexible feeding tube that is an extension of the mouth) to extract nectar from the flowers of native plants. Although they may live longer than two years, these flies spend most of their life as larvae burrowed in the sand. After emerging as flies, they live for only a few weeks. During this short time, they feed, mate, and lay eggs. The Delhi-sands flower loving fly exists in only 12 known populations in California, US. |
| Scientific
Name |
Lifespan |
| Rhaphiomidas terminatus abdominalis |
2 years? |
| Diet |
| Herbivore. Nectar of buckwheat flowers as adult, perhaps predatory as larva. |
| Predators and Threats |
| Argentine ants, asilid fly, preying mantids, native harvester ants, and humans by habitat destruction. Larvae and pupae may be taken by subterranean predatory insects, reptiles, and mammals. |
| Habitat |
| Semi arid sand dunes, intact, open, sparse, native habitat with less than 50% vegetative cover; only found in San Bernardino and Riverside counties in southern California, US. |
