Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Fly bubble blowing

Posted by Susan R Walter on 29-04-2006 22:12
#35

I watched a female Muscina sp blowing bubbles this morning. This is the first time I have witnessed this behaviour, but thanks to this forum, I immediately recognised what she was doing and stayed to watch. The droplets she produced were translucent blue grey (maybe only a reflection off her body). The droplet slowly grew to a couple of millimetres across then she slowly withdrew it, then the process was repeated. She was sitting in the sun, head to the east, on a bramble leaf. The droplet itself, because of the angle of the leaf, was not in the sun, but shaded by her body. I didn't have a camera with me, so no photo (and anyway, my photographic skills aren't good enough to add anything to these terrific images).

I am also struck by something Totipotent touched on earlier - in this case, and in each of the pictures in this thread the bubbler is female.