On my walk this afternoon, I wandered into a neighbor’s yard and began photographing butterflies on his blooming lantana, phlox, and butterfly bush. I noticed a lovely long-legged fly (Condylostylus sp.), less than 1/4 inch in length, perched on the edge of a phlox leaf. I am not able to identify if precisely, but I am comforted by the fact that two different insect identification books on my shelf both comment that the different species of Condylostylus (of which there are over 40) can only be distinguished by a specialist. If I am correct as to its genus, at least (as the shape of its wings, red color of its eyes, and length of its legs indicate), then this fly is actually brilliant metallic blue or green in color, and only appears coppery in this photograph because of sunlight reflecting off its body.
