Nectar feeding crane flies might not be what comes to mind when thinking about pollinators, but this fly belongs to a genus with about 350 described species. They bounce and bob around while feeding or at rest and the reason for this behavior is unknown. #inverts (Geranomyia sp.) Pennsylvania - ThreadSky

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jencross.bsky.social • 19 days ago

Nectar feeding crane flies might not be what comes to mind when thinking about pollinators, but this fly belongs to a genus with about 350 described species. They bounce and bob around while feeding or at rest and the reason for this behavior is unknown. #inverts
(Geranomyia sp.) Pennsylvania

Comments

gettoknownature.bsky.social•19 days ago

Oh I’ve seen them bouncing on flowers! I didn’t know who exactly they were

jencross.bsky.social•19 days ago

Yeah, I wonder if I took this photo while wondering what it was up to. Pretty neat to catch it sipping nectar.

gettoknownature.bsky.social•19 days ago

It’s really cool! I have some photos but none nearly as good as this one

paveldmitrievich.bsky.social•19 days ago

My favourite class was Invertebrate Zoology. It wasn't a chore to attend these lectures, believe me. I love little critters. I read J. H. Fabre as a boy.

augustinemerganser.bsky.social•19 days ago

For a while, my middle child was terrified of these and my youngest wanted to keep them as pets

iotterbewriting.bsky.social•19 days ago

I honestly didn't know that any flies were pollinators so this is cool. Thank you for sharing.

ottermagically.bsky.social•18 days ago

I too have wondered about Tipulid bobbing behaviour. It's a mystery still? Up there with "why do some species if deciduous trees (mainly some oaks) retain dead leaves through the winter?"