A Soldier at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument

I was just emailed this photograph of what looks like a member of the family Stratomyidae, a.k.a the soldier fly. Coincidentally the fly was photographed (today?) at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. These flies are pretty cool since they mimic wasps in the way they fold their iridescent wings in a scissor-like fashion over their jet black bodies - and have a few hints of orange color (much like a pompilid wasp).



Why would you want to look like a wasp? Why not? Well, it's actually due to a form of natural selection where harmless organisms that mimic harmful ones (like stinging wasps) are given the respect and distance from a potential predator. This form of mimicry is called "Batesian" (thats Bates as in Norman and Ian; not rhyming with Parisian) after Naturalist Henry Walter Bates. The catch - the potential predator usually has to already know the pain of a wasp sting in order to avoid "tasting" the soldier fly. Chances are if you're the type that makes its living feeding on little flying bugs you've already felt the sting.

UPDATE: Photo was actually taken by my wife at One Constitution Plaza in Hartford. But I'm still leaving the title of this entry as is because it just sounds cool.