Xylophagus ater · musė

• common awl-fly
• Schwarze Holzfliege
• dziupleń smukły

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylophagus_ater
• flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/albums/72157631392453622

A narrowly-built, shiny black fly with long reddish legs and a rather weak flight. It could be mistaken for some of our more robust Ctenophora and Tanyptera craneflies in the field but has much shorter antennae. This is primarily an insect of ancient broadleaved woodland.

The larvae develop beneath bark and within the rotting heart wood of a variety of broadleaved trees and are presumed to be predators. Adults are usually found resting on tree trunks in May and June, and males do flights up the trunks looking rather like crabronid or ichneumon wasps. 6873