golden-backed snipe fly

Golden-backed snipe fly is medium-sized fly. It occurs in the United States from New Hampshire to North Carolina west to Minnesota and Oklahoma, and in southern Ontario Canada. It is common in the east, uncommon in Minnesota. It is found in deciduous woodlands. Larvae are found in water (aquatic) or in moist, organic-rich soil. They prey on earthworms, soft-bodied insects, or grasshopper eggs. Adults prey on other insects but it is thought that they feed little.

Adults are black with highly contrasting white and gold markings. Females are ⅜″ to ½″ (10 to 13 mm) long, males slightly smaller, ⅜″ to ½″ (10 to 12 mm) long.

The head is black and more or less rounded. There are two large compound eyes on the side of the head and three small simple eyes (ocelli) in a triangle on top of the head. The back of the head is densely covered with long black hairs. On the male the compound eyes are very large and meet at the top of the head. On the female the compound eyes are smaller and widely separated. The antennae have three segments. The third segment is cone shaped, is not divided by rings (annulated), and bears a long, slender style (arista) at the end. The arista is distinctly longer than the antenna.

The thorax has three segments. The upper side is densely covered with short golden hairs. This is the feature that gives the fly its common name. The genus name Chrysopilus translates to “gold hair”. The sides of the third segment (metapleura) are densely covered with black hairs.

The abdomen on the male is narrow and tapered. On the female it is broad and is tapered at least on the lower half. Each abdominal segment is black and has a dense band of silvery-white or pale yellow hairs at the end (apex) except for an interruption in the middle.

The wings appear dark but are mostly clear with prominent black veins. There is a broad, smoky brown border along the leading edge (costal margin). The veins usually have broad borders tinged dark smoky brown. The anal cell is longer than the second basal cell and is closed before the wing margin.

The legs are relatively long and mostly pale. On the front legs the fourth segment does not have spurs at the end. On the hind legs there is just one spur at the end of the tibia.

Male: ⅜″ to ½″ (10 to 12 mm) long

Female: ⅜″ to ½″ (10 to 13 mm) long

Deciduous woodlands

Early to mid-spring

Adults perch on low vegetation.

Little is known about the life cycle.

Earthworms, soft-bodied insects, or grasshopper eggs

Insects

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Uncommon in Minnesota

Infraorder
Orthorrhapha was historically one of two infraorders of Brachycera, a suborder of Diptera. However, Brachycera did not contain all of the descendants of the last common ancestor (paraphyletic). It was split into five extant (still existing) and one extinct infraorder. Orthorrhapha is now considered obsolete and has not been used in decades, but it persists in printed literature and on some online sources. A recent revision of the order Diptera (Pope, et al., 2011) revived the name Orthorrhapha, but this has not been widely accepted.

Subfamily
The genus Chrysopilus was formerly included in the subfamily Rhagioninae. In 1903 it was separated with five other genera into the new subfamily Chrysopilinae, but this was ignored by most authors. A recent molecular and morphological analysis of the family Rhagionidae (Kerr, 2004) supported the separation of the subfamily Chrysopilinae to include Chrysopilus and two other genera.

Chrysopilus thoracicus (golden-backed snipe fly)

I've attached a few of my favorite photos of these easily recognizable snipe flies.

Spring is the time to find these colorful flies in nature preserves, prairies, woodland edges and suburban gardens. They're often in partly shaded areas.

Golden-backed snipe fly, Barnes Prairie hedgerow, Racine Co, WI May 29 2021

golden-backed snipe fly at Hedgerow next to Barnes Prairie on Mayapple, Racine Co., Wisconsin May 29, 2021

Golden-backed snipeflies m f Barnes Prairie hedgerow Racine Co., WI June 1 2020

I noticed that you don’t have a golden-backed snipe fly picture. Well, now you will with the picture that I took.

Gold-Backed Snipe Fly resting on grass
GoTrails

Mike Poeppe
6/21/2022

Location: a mile West of Houston, MN.

Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI

golden-backed snipe fly at Hedgerow next to Barnes Prairie on Mayapple, Racine Co., Wisconsin May 29, 2021

Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI

Golden-backed snipeflies m f Barnes Prairie hedgerow Racine Co., WI June 1 2020.JPG