What's going on here then?

Richard

Richard

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Last year I took a shot of a dung fly doing something rather strange:



Closeup:



I had no idea what was going on there and even after a bit of googling I didn't manage to come up with anything. Anyway, a year later and they're at it again!

1043708418_e1b1f3a520.jpg


Is it as simple as this is how they drink? Anyone else seen this sort of thing?
 
Hmm here's one I shot last year:

No idea whats going on but I think the bubble got bigger!

bubble-fly.jpg
 
I'm not absolutely certain about this but I think it's a gunge which they secrete over potential food to break it down, which is why they're such a health risk around food.

Gross innit? :puke:
 
These "dung flies" make useful studies and have enough colour in them to be attractive.
My wife is somehow objecting to an A3 copy being framed and hung in the dining room.

fly1.jpg
 
Dark Star said:
Hmm here's one I shot last year:

No idea whats going on but I think the bubble got bigger!
Click to expand...

Don't know if this might be answer,might be wrong end, have to make up your own mind

AbstractFemale yellow dung flies have large paired accessory reproductive glands, the function of which remains unclear. However, gland contents are secreted during copula and egg laying. Other female flies produce a range of anti-bacterial substances in their accessory reproductive glands that protect them and their eggs from pathogens, and it is possible that gland secretion acts similarly in yellow dung flies. A series of experiments was conducted to test this idea. Because the volume of secretion remaining in the glands is negatively related to copula duration, egg hatchability and longevity of females was compared in groups that copulated experimentally once or three times. A zone inhibition assay was used to see if gland extract inhibited bacterial growth. Egg number was positively associated with female body size, but the proportion of eggs hatching was not. Neither copula number nor duration influenced egg number or hatch number or proportion. In accordance with this, gland extract did not inhibit bacterial growth. However, female longevity was reduced in females that copulated with more males. This suggests that gland secretion does not serve to protect eggs, but as with a number of taxa, copula is costly to female yellow dung flies.
 
Great shots these, seemed to have got missed out in last post, hope you kept out of their platter.
 
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