The Wildlife of
Cragside

 
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Flies - The Dagger Fly

First seen on Tuesday 10th August 2021 at Cragside

This Fly is in a huge family of very simlar flies. This one I think is Empis Tessellata - not to be confused with Empis Opaca which has red-brown thighs rather than black as in this one. They live in hedgerows and take nectar from flowers. However they all get their common name 'Dagger Fly' from the fact they also predate on other flies. They do this by spearing them with their rigid downward-pointing proboscis. This one has been caught in the gruesome act - look how much bigger it is than the house fly it is predating.