Entomologist Martin Drake sings the praises of the semaphore fly, a record-breaking and fascinating species. <\/p>

I told a friend I was writing an identification guide to dolichopodids. \u201cTo what?\u201d he asked. So I waved my arms around mimicking the courtship dance of the most conspicuous of this large family of bottle-green flies.<\/p>\n

Why do flies rub their legs together?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Bee flies: what they are and some common bee fly species<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
How and why would flies get into ointments?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
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What are semaphore flies?<\/h2>\n
This species is one of over 300 species of Dolichopodidae in the UK, a large and conspicuous family. Most species are distinctly metallic and often the males are adorned with secondary features used for courtship.<\/p>\n
This species is notable for the white tips at the end of their wings which play a vital part in the males wooing strategy, and makes it very easy for us to identify the species.<\/p>\n
This is a common fly in the southern half of England but rapidly peters out in the north and is clearly at the edge of its geographic range here. It has been recently found in Scotland \u2013 almost certainly yet another indication of climatic warming since the fly is far too conspicuous to have been overlooked. The same northern expansion has also been noted in Sweden.<\/p>\n
Males and females congregate at puddles and ponds. Many of you will have seen these humming masses of flies bobbing about apparently aimlessly.\u00a0 But is far from aimless.<\/p>\n
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