Dance Flies

Family Empididae

Rhamphomyia longicauda. Photo:Stephanie Boucher

The larvae and the adults are predaceous on smaller insects. The adults also sometimes feed on nectar and are often found in damp places where the vegetation is dense. The larvae are common in the soil or decaying vegetation and some are found in water. Their common name comes from the fact that the adults often form mating swarms and fly up and down into it. The males will sometimes capture an insects that they wrap in silk as a mating gift for a female (but 'lazy' males of some species only give an empty ball of silk!). Empididae are small to medium sized flies, usually elongated and mostly dark colored. They have a rounded head and a distinct neck, a large and humpbacked thorax and long tapered abdomen. The legs are slender and sometimes the front legs are raptorial, for grasping other insects. The proboscis is often long and pointed.