March fly

There have been some March flies around when working outside -  they are a fairly slow moving fly that are fairly easily swatted when they settle to bite.

Binomial name : Cydistomyia doddi
Common name : March fly     ( overseas they are called Horse flies)


It is the female that bites to get some blood for egg production, whereas the male feed on nectar and pollen and thus are useful for pollination. They bite mammals and also birds, reptiles and amphibians. The larvae live in damp/wet soil and feed on other soil invertebrates.  Here is the link to the Queensland Museum site.

http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Insects/Flies/Common+species/Horse+flies

Interestingly, they do not spread disease like mosquitos to humans - Macropods (such as Kangaroos and Wallabies) however can be infected by a nematode by these flies.

I was taken by the pattern on the wings.

Otherwise - finally completely finished the physical work on the old dam site. It is now another "room" in our garden  with sweet potato beds, berry patches, dry creek bed, old gold mine/root cellar , water shute and old shipping container made to look like a maori whare.  It is  all mulched, top soil spread where grass is to grow back and only needs some planting. Overall, we are happy with the outcome.