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hi flyforum,

A few weeks ago I saw a lot of Notiphila-flies on some water-lily.

I think this fly must be a Notiphila sp., but my experience is little in these things..

Look to the Scutellum, it is a bit swollen.

Robert Heemskerk

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two

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three

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four

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Ephydra (Ephydridae).

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The top three photos show a long bristle on the outer side of the right antenna. This means that this is a Setacera (female), a genus that is closely related to Ephydra. The species are difficult to separate without examining the genitalia.
We can tell that it's not Notiphila because it has a slightly hairy mouth margin (not easy to see in these photos), and there are no dorsal bristles on the mid tibia (Notiphila always has these).

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Oops. Tony is of source right. My bad.

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Thank you Tony and Kahis!
beautiful flies, but difficult..

It is a bit out of the topic, but did you know you can buy ephydra as birdfood?
Here is a price list;

Moscas de ?gua (Ephydra riparia)
Tam. 50gr 100gr 250gr 500gr
5mm 1,75 ? 3,00 ? 7,00 ? 13,00 ?
10mm 2,00 ? 3,50 ? 7,50 ? 14,00 ?

robert heemskerk

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Hi Robert - Thanks for that bit of information. I'm not very surprised, because it is possible to colllect Ephydra larvae in enormous quantities, and any natural resource will be exploited if someone can find the right market! :(
Can you give me more information? Where did you find this offered for sale?

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I didn't know that you kept pigeons Tony? ;)

http://www.ornicare.com/site_html/insectos/insectossecos.htm

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Thanks, Robert.
I will order some to check that they have the species correctly identified! (Then I'll cook up a risotto .. ;))