TYT.LThome / Insecta · vabzdžiai / Diptera · dvisparniai / Empididae · snapmusės / Empis tessellata · snapmusė

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Empis tessellata · snapmusė

  • Hanging Fly
  • Stor danseflue
  • Gewürfelte Tanzfliege
  • grote dansvlieg
  • wójek okazały, wujek kostkowany

The species is distributed in most of Europe from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, in the east to the Middle East and Central Asia to Japan. These dance flies can be found on various plants on moist meadows, on forest edges, on clearings and lightly wooded areas. Adults and larvae are predatory. Adults mainly hunt Diptera or other small insects, but they also feed on the nectar of flowers. especially of umbellifers.

Before mating, the male catches prey to present as a gift to the female. Only then the mating takes place. The creamy-yellow larvae live underneath the ground and in leaf litter.