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I was reluctant to photograph this Pyrops oculata because I have too many shots of them already. I did it anyway but it was a rather slow day. Good thing I did. There were some parasitic flies (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae?) on this Fulgorid. Seen this on damselfly before but first time on a lantern bug/lanternfly.



Location: Malaysia.

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Could be Ceratopogonidae. The ectoparasites are in subfamily Forcipomyiinae.

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Thanks John. I have a crop from a closer shot here:


Pyrops oculata lanternfly with parasitic flies...IMG_4829 crop by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr

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Forcipomyiinae. I think Atrichopogon but I'm not sure of that. All females. Males only visit flowers (like male mosquitoes).

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These are all female Atrichopogon. The elongate costa can be seen in a number of them. this is a very good find because there are very few records of feeding by Atrichopogon, in spite of the fact that members are common and very diverse (510 species known and lots more unnamed).