[NatureNS] Flies on the water - Hydrophorus

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Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:40:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul MacDonald <paulrita2001@yahoo.com>
To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
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Thanks Steve - very interesting.=0AThese flies were all over the lake - not=
 in any ATV rut - more like a glacier rut - lol!=0ASeems I see them only ab=
out the first week of Sept. Makes for great fishing=0Aon a couple of occasi=
ons but not this time. They must hatch all over the lake to be so=0Aevenly =
divided.=0AThanks again=0APaul=0A=0A=0A=0A________________________________=
=0AFrom: Stephen R. Shaw <srshaw@Dal.Ca>=0ATo: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=0ASe=
nt: Monday, September 12, 2011 2:33:41 PM=0ASubject: Re: [NatureNS] Flies o=
n the water - Hydrophorus=0A=0AHi Paul,=0AProbably you had quite a few peop=
le bothered by your '4 cm' flies.=0A=0ASmall flies that scoot around on wat=
er are pretty much all Dolichopodidae, aka 'long-legged flies', though thes=
e particular ones are probably not all that long-legged.=A0 Furthermore, wi=
thin the dolichos, those associated with water surfaces are all (almost all=
?) in the subgroup Hydrophorinae, in the genus Hydrophorus.=0A=0AWe observe=
d and caught a few such in October-November last year living in extended wa=
terlogged deep ATV ruts carved alongside the Halifax end of the Old St Marg=
arets Bay Road, now a hiking/ATV trail (about the only useful 'naturalistic=
' thing I have yet experienced to have come out of that mode of transportat=
ion).=A0 The interest was that initially they seemed able to fly directly o=
ff the water surface, like you say.=A0 My colleague visiting from Cambridge=
 at the time photographed one of them with his ultra-high speed camera whil=
e prodding it to take off, and even made a short video clip of this.=A0 Thi=
s seems to show that they don't fly off, they actually jump up off the surf=
ace before starting to fly, so it's a power jump.=A0 This was sufficiently =
interesting to my bug-jump-expert colleague that we managed to get the spec=
ies identified by the dolicho specialist in Ottawa, Scott Brooks.=A0 All do=
lichos are known or believed to be carnivorous, so these
 presumably feed on minute insects and other invertebrates living in the su=
rface water film.=0A=0AMost dolichos have a metallic green sheen somewhere =
on their bodies but ours didn't and were drab brownish-grey, and about the =
same size as yours. You say yours were black and I guess they may have look=
ed black in certain light conditions.=A0 If yours looked like ours on close=
r inspection, they might have been the same species, Hydrophorus albofloren=
s.=0A=0ASteve, Halifax=0A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=0A=0AQuoti=
ng Paul MacDonald <paulrita2001@yahoo.com>:=0A> Hi All=0A> Sorry - Mistake!=
=0A> Flies were=A0perhaps 4 mms in length not cms!=0A> Have a nice day=0A> =
Paul=0A=0A> ________________________________=0A> From: Paul MacDonald <paul=
rita2001@yahoo.com>=0A> To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns=
.ca>=0A> Sent: Friday, September 9, 2011 7:54:02 PM=0A> Subject: [NatureNS]=
 Flies on the water=0A> =0A> =0A> Hi All=0A> This afternoon BB and I went p=
addling to see about a Ladies-Tresses bed.=0A> As we were getting in the ca=
noe, I saw a flock of ducks feeding on the surface=0A> of the lake. Looked =
like Mallard ducks but might have been a few Blacks also.=0A> I thought fli=
es right away.=0A> When we got out in the lake, I realized there was plenty=
 of small flies=0A> on the water - maybe up to 10 - 12 per square meter.=0A=
> The flies were just sitting on the surface tension, perhaps 4 cms in leng=
th as a guess.=0A> They were all black and lively - didn't seem dopey. Woul=
d fly off if I tried=0A> to catch them. There were a few much larger ones -=
 perhaps 1 in 1000 or=0A> even less.=0A> No fish were feeding on them. I kn=
ow there are fish in the lake as I caught=0A> a couple but they didn't seem=
 interested in the ones on the surface.=0A> In the lee of the Islands there=
 was a big flock of them all gathered together=0A> out of the wind. I'm not=
 certain they were the same species.=0A> I've seen these flies before but n=
ot often.=0A> Glad they didn't bite!=0A> Enjoy the last of the summer=0A> P=
aul
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<html><body><div style=3D"color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:ti=
mes new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>Thanks Ste=
ve - very interesting.</span></div><div><span>These flies were all over the=
 lake - not in any ATV rut - more like a glacier rut - lol!</span></div><di=
v><span>Seems I see them only about the first week of Sept. Makes for great=
 fishing</span></div><div><span>on a couple of occasions but not this time.=
 They must hatch all over the lake to be so</span></div><div><span>evenly d=
ivided.</span></div><div><span>Thanks again</span></div><div><span>Paul</sp=
an></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><br></div><div style=3D"font-size=
: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><div st=
yle=3D"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, =
serif; "><font size=3D"2" face=3D"Arial"><hr size=3D"1"><b><span style=3D"f=
ont-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Stephen R. Shaw
 &lt;srshaw@Dal.Ca&gt;<br><b><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">To:</span><=
/b> naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<br><b><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Sent:<=
/span></b> Monday, September 12, 2011 2:33:41 PM<br><b><span style=3D"font-=
weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [NatureNS] Flies on the water - Hydr=
ophorus<br></font><br>Hi Paul,<br>Probably you had quite a few people bothe=
red by your '4 cm' flies.<br><br>Small flies that scoot around on water are=
 pretty much all Dolichopodidae, aka 'long-legged flies', though these part=
icular ones are probably not all that long-legged.&nbsp; Furthermore, withi=
n the dolichos, those associated with water surfaces are all (almost all?) =
in the subgroup Hydrophorinae, in the genus Hydrophorus.<br><br>We observed=
 and caught a few such in October-November last year living in extended wat=
erlogged deep ATV ruts carved alongside the Halifax end of the Old St Marga=
rets Bay Road, now a hiking/ATV trail (about the only useful
 'naturalistic' thing I have yet experienced to have come out of that mode =
of transportation).&nbsp; The interest was that initially they seemed able =
to fly directly off the water surface, like you say.&nbsp; My colleague vis=
iting from Cambridge at the time photographed one of them with his ultra-hi=
gh speed camera while prodding it to take off, and even made a short video =
clip of this.&nbsp; This seems to show that they don't fly off, they actual=
ly jump up off the surface before starting to fly, so it's a power jump.&nb=
sp; This was sufficiently interesting to my bug-jump-expert colleague that =
we managed to get the species identified by the dolicho specialist in Ottaw=
a, Scott Brooks.&nbsp; All dolichos are known or believed to be carnivorous=
, so these presumably feed on minute insects and other invertebrates living=
 in the surface water film.<br><br>Most dolichos have a metallic green shee=
n somewhere on their bodies but ours didn't and were drab
 brownish-grey, and about the same size as yours. You say yours were black =
and I guess they may have looked black in certain light conditions.&nbsp; I=
f yours looked like ours on closer inspection, they might have been the sam=
e species, Hydrophorus alboflorens.<br><br>Steve, Halifax<br> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br><br>Quoting Paul MacDonald &lt;<a ymailto=3D"=
mailto:paulrita2001@yahoo.com" href=3D"mailto:paulrita2001@yahoo.com">paulr=
ita2001@yahoo.com</a>&gt;:<br>&gt; Hi All<br>&gt; Sorry - Mistake!<br>&gt; =
Flies were&nbsp;perhaps 4 mms in length not cms!<br>&gt; Have a nice day<br=
>&gt; Paul<br><br>&gt; ________________________________<br>&gt; From: Paul =
MacDonald &lt;<a ymailto=3D"mailto:paulrita2001@yahoo.com" href=3D"mailto:p=
aulrita2001@yahoo.com">paulrita2001@yahoo.com</a>&gt;<br>&gt; To: "<a ymail=
to=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.c=
a">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</a>" &lt;<a ymailto=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.=
ns.ca"
 href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</a>&gt;<br=
>&gt; Sent: Friday, September 9, 2011 7:54:02 PM<br>&gt; Subject: [NatureNS=
] Flies on the water<br>&gt; <br>&gt; <br>&gt; Hi All<br>&gt; This afternoo=
n BB and I went paddling to see about a Ladies-Tresses bed.<br>&gt; As we w=
ere getting in the canoe, I saw a flock of ducks feeding on the surface<br>=
&gt; of the lake. Looked like Mallard ducks but might have been a few Black=
s also.<br>&gt; I thought flies right away.<br>&gt; When we got out in the =
lake, I realized there was plenty of small flies<br>&gt; on the water - may=
be up to 10 - 12 per square meter.<br>&gt; The flies were just sitting on t=
he surface tension, perhaps 4 cms in length as a guess.<br>&gt; They were a=
ll black and lively - didn't seem dopey. Would fly off if I tried<br>&gt; t=
o catch them. There were a few much larger ones - perhaps 1 in 1000 or<br>&=
gt; even less.<br>&gt; No fish were feeding on them. I know there are
 fish in the lake as I caught<br>&gt; a couple but they didn't seem interes=
ted in the ones on the surface.<br>&gt; In the lee of the Islands there was=
 a big flock of them all gathered together<br>&gt; out of the wind. I'm not=
 certain they were the same species.<br>&gt; I've seen these flies before b=
ut not often.<br>&gt; Glad they didn't bite!<br>&gt; Enjoy the last of the =
summer<br>&gt; Paul<br><br><br><br><br></div></div></div></body></html>
---2114655128-586271179-1315935647=:38934--

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