More flies....and spiders

Today, May 24, the flies still dominate the insect life on the salt marsh just awakening from the winter slumber. Swarms of biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) were whirling around among the salt marsh hay stalks. Contrary to the name, this particular species is not interested in drawing blood from the nearest human victim. Unlike their close cousins, the vicious no-see-ums (Culicoides), the biting midges from the genus Dasyhelea do not take blood. In fact, they feed on nectar and some are very important pollinators of cacao and other trees in the tropics. Many US salt marsh species were originally described from Long Island by a famous National Museum of Natural History entomologist W.W. Wirth. These flies are tiny and most people simply overlook the little critters.

Dasyhelea (Ceratopogonidae) sp, male (bushy antenna) and female (large abdomen)

Another interesting, dramatic, and minute fly enjoying a view from an Iva branch

Strange as it sounds, mosquitoes also belong to that venerable fly family. The feared eastern saltmarsh mosquito (Aedes sollicitans) has yet to to impose its presence on the suburban wilderness. The marsh conditions have been uncooperative - either too dry or too wet. However, its less formidable relative, the brown saltmarsh mosquito (Aedes cantator) inhabits mostly the upper parts of the marsh, and a minor brood emerged following the recent heavy rains. This member of the happy Aedes family is not only more drab than the flashy sollicitans, but less bold and bothersome biting mostly at dusk. Certainly, Aedes cantator does not have the bulldog determination of its cousin. 

Brown saltmarsh mosquito (Aedes cantator) female

Male of the same species with bushy antenna

 In the arthropod world, predators always follow the prey. Who can resist all of those juicy flying morsels? Certainly not spiders - the most ubiquitous and important consumers of the salt marsh insect bounty. Some lurk among the stalks of the cordgrass

Some are lurking on the ground, like these wolf spiders (the larger one is not very common)

More on salt marsh spiders latter on......

The day of the fly

May 14 was a good day for flies, large and small. The little creatures abounded in the salt marsh hay and bulrushes of the upper brackish marsh. The largest among the airborne crowds was the exquisitely fragile crane fly about half and inch long. They gracefully lifted into the air at my approach dropping almost immediately to the ground and perching on a stalk of grass hardly distinguishable in the dense growth. On the second approach they took off among the stem and were immediately lost in the maize of the marsh turf.   

Salt marsh crane fly

 Another pretty little fly with a distinct pattern of clear spots on the wings swarmed abundantly just above the grass. This species of shore flies (Scatella setosa) was collected and described for the first time during the famous Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899. The “outing” was funded by a rail magnate E.H. Harriman, and included such luminaries as John Burroughs, John Muir, and Louis Agassiz leisurely traveling on a specially retrofitted 250 ft steamer yacht. My favorite Harriman State Park  50 miles north of NYC was carved out of a massive E.H. Harriman estate after his death.

A shore fly (Scatella setosa)

Shore flies thrive in the inhospitable salt marsh environment. A stout brownish fly is often seen skating effortlessly on the small saltwater pools sometimes numbering in the hundreds. Under perceived or real danger, they hop off further away from the source without leaving their favorite “pond”. Ephydra subopaca was important enough to deserve its own book (The biology of Ephydra subopaca Loew, by Chih Ping, Cornell University, 1921). Unaware of its fame, it happily laps up detritus from the pool surface.

Ephydra subopaca, another shore fly, yam-yam

Ephydra subopaca shore flies on the salt marsh pool surface

 

A personal mystery was fluffily carried through the air. For several years I have been searching for salt marsh midges, supposedly common non-biting relatives of mosquitoes. All my poking into the murky depths of salt marsh potholes produced zero “bloodworms”, the aquatic immature stages. Yet, I see them dancing merrily in the meadow. Where have you come from and wither wilt thou go? 

Salt marsh midge