Megaselia Rondani, 1856

Brown, Brian V. & Porras, Wendy, 2015, Extravagant female sexual display in a Megaselia Rondani species (Diptera: Phoridae), Biodiversity Data Journal 3, pp. 4368-4368 : 4368

Megaselia Rondani, 1856

Megaselia

Biology

Adult females of an unidentified species of Megaselia Rondani were observed perching on leaves of small plants and ferns directly above a small creek. Mostly, the flies were inactive, but occasionally (when the sun came out) they began to display, by raising and fluttering their wings (Fig. 2), "dancing" (running in circles) on the leaves, and expanding the sacklike swellings in the posterior part of the abdomen (Fig. 3). Additionally, the inside surface of the hind tibia was somehow manipulated to reflect light, creating a silvery sheen (Fig. 4). The display was observed three times: once with a pair of females displaying together (Fig. 2), once with a male in attendance (Fig. 5), and once captured on video (Fig. 4). Each display lasted only a few seconds.