I recently discovered a peacock fly (Callopistromyia annulipes) in the garden of a friend. When I pushed one of my fingers toward the fly, it responded with wing signaling (not flight). Very interesting. I now try to gather information about this mysterious and beautiful insect.
Dear Sebastian, where do you live? C. annulipes was first described for Europe (Switzerland) and Germany at the same time in 2007 (Merz, B. 2007, Callopistromyia annulipes (Macquart, 1855), a nearctic species of Ulidiidae (Diptera), new for the palaearctic region. Studia Dipterologica 14(1): 161-165; Merz, B. & van Gyseghem, R. 2007: Callopistromyia annulipes (Macquart, 1855), neu auch für Deutschland (Diptera, Ulidiidae). Studia Dipterologica 14(1): 165-166.
The species was described from the yard of the Pfalzmuseum für Naturkunde in Bad Dürkheim (Rheinland-Pfalz). It's still around, I took pictures of dancing males in May 2015.
Best wishes,
Frank
Dear Frank,
I observed C. annulipes in Schriesheim. The garden actually is kind of a clearing in the Schriesheimer Wald. There also were many stags of lock on the site. I read, that larvae need dead wood from north american invasive plants. This could explain the presence of the imago.
I recently discovered a short article about distibution (attached).
There is really little literature about behavioral biology of C. annulipes. I wonder for example if wing signaling is just mating behavior or if it's also something like predator mimicry (known from Tephritidae species on jumping spiders).
Best regards,
Sebastian
Article New Records of Callopistromyia annulipes Macquart (Diptera: ...
At the Biodiversity Heritage site you can also search for the fly name among the publications that are part of their scanned document database and discover other references to the species.
Thanks for the link! I excerpted some field reports about the behavior:
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington.
81(3), 1979, pp. 450-455
Biological, anatomical, and distributional notes on the genus Callopistromyia Hendel (Diptera: Otitidae)
George C. Steyskal
[…]
Callopistromyia annulipes (Macquart)
Behavior of the adults. At Lost River State Park the adults were seen everywhere on exposed surfaces, mostly in the sunlight. They were frequently seen on parked automobiles. No effort to mate was observed, but the peculiar display of the wings noted long ago by Banks (1904) was very evident and performed by both sexes. Banks also mentioned a statement by Harris (1862; p. 620) which also apparently refers to this fly. Two cards in the files of the U. S. National Museum, written by J. M. Aldrich, are interesting:
„Sept. 1, 1922. I noticed several specimen strutting with wings upraised like a peacock tail, on a bridge in Rock Creek Park. One that I captured in the act was a female, the first instance of such display in a female that I know. I succeeded in mounting that specimen to show the posture pretty well, but the wings are not touching as they should be. The 2 black costal spots blend when the wings are displayed, and are almost central in the circle.“
„June 22, 1931. Melander and I watched a female strutting on a log above Great Falls. He finally captured her. She did as I have indicated in the other case, and we watched for some time. Another specimen strutted on my shirt-sleeve, and we both saw it, but she got away. Do the males strut at all?“ The specimen Aldrich mounted is still in the museum collection.
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