Near Auburn, New York, Kurczewski & Acciavatti (1968) found an adult Callopistromyia annulipes among prey stored in a nest of the sphecid wasp Crabro advena (referred to as Crabro advenus).
The seasonal distribution of the flies and their attraction to baits are treated in 2 papers by Frost (1928, 1929). Some of the flies observed at Lost River State Park were females with abdomens distended by eggs. Adults have been seen from April to October. It seems likely that there are at least two broods during this period. I found two puparia in decaying cambium of a dead tree of Acer negundo Linnaeus (boxelder) on Grosse Ile, Michigan, on 12 April 1954; adults emerged indoors 6 days later.
Malloch (1931) stated that the larvae of species of Pseudotephritis "live under slightly loose bark of trees and occur frequently along with those of Callopistromyia."' I (Steyskal, 1951) noted the presence of adults on the bark of trees in Michigan; they were abundant on dying trees of Populus deltoides Barr. ex Marsh, ovipositing on dead trees of Robinia pseudacacia Linnaeus, and feeding at frass of wood borers in live trees of the latter species.
The species is widespread in the United States but has been found in only a few places near the southern border of Canada, as listed below.
CANADA: Ontario (Niagara, Normandale. Ottawa), British Columbia (Robson).
UNITED STATES: Connecticut (Fairfield, Tolland Cos.), District of Columbia, Georgia (Harris Co.), Idaho (Gooding, Payette Cos.), Illinois (Champaign Co.), Indiana (Tippecanoe Co.), Kansas (Douglas Co.), Kentucky (Knox Co.), Maine (Hancock Co.), Maryland (Baltimore, Montgomery, Price George Cos.), Massachusetts (Barnstable, Essex, Plymouth Cos.), Michigan (Berrien, Branch, Cass, Grand Traverse, Ingham, Kalamazoo, Livingston, Manistee, Monroe, Muskegon, Oakland, St. Joseph, Shiawassee, Wayne Cos.), Mississippi (Lafayette Co.), Montana, New Hampshire (Rockingham Co.), New Jersey (Camden, Mercer, Morris Cos.), New York (Dutchess, Erie, Nassau, New York, Onondaga, Tompkins, West Chester Cos.), North Carolina (Grayson, Haywood, Polk, Swain Cos.), Ohio (Athens, Franklin, Muskingum Cos.), Pennsylvania (Adams, Allegheny, York Cos.), Rhode Island, Tennessee (Anderson, Roane, Sevier Cos.), Utah (Box Elder, Cache, Salt Lake, Weber Cos.), Vermont, Virginia (Fairfax, Tazewell Cos.), Washington (Yakima Co.), West Virginia (Hardy Co.), Wisconsin (Dane Co.).
The Peacock Fly, Callopistromyia annulipes, is a small picture-winged fly (family Ulidiidae). It gets its common name from the peculiar way in which both males and females strut around, usually on rotting trees or logs, with their wings raised up and pointed forward, resembling a peacock's tail (Banks 1903, Steyskal 1979). This species is native to the United States and Canada (Steyskal 1979, Kameneva & Korneyev 2006), but it has recently turned up in Central Europe and appears to be spreading across the continent (Merz 2008, Merz & Van Gyseghem 2008, Smit & Hamers 2011, Korneyev et al. 2014).
Callopistromyia annulipes is native to the United States and Canada (Steyskal 1979, Kameneva & Korneyev 2006), but recently specimens have also been collected in Europe from the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia, and Slovakia (Merz 2008, Merz & Van Gyseghem 2008, Smit & Hamers 2011, Korneyev et al. 2014).
At Lost River State Park the adults were seen everywhere on exposed surfaces, mostly in the sunlight. They were frequently seen on parked automobiles. No effort to mate was observed, but the peculiar display of the wings noted long ago by Banks (1904) was very evident and performed by both sexes. Banks also mentioned a statement by Harris (1862, p. 620) which apparently refers to this fly. Two cards in the files of the U.S. National Museum, written by J. M. Aldrich, are interesting: "Sept. 1, 1922. I noticed several specimens strutting with wings up-raised like a peacock's tail, on a bridge on Rock Creek Park. One that I captured in the act was a female, the first instance of such display in a female that I know of. I succeeded in mounting the specimen to show the posture pretty well, but the wings are not touching as they should be. The 2 black costal spots blend when the wings are displayed, and are almost central in the circle." "June 22, 1931. Melander and I watched a female strutting on a log above Great Falls. He finally captured her. She did as I have indicated in the other case, and we watched for some time. Another specimen strutted on my shirt-sleeve, and we both saw it, but she got away. Do the males strut at all?" The specimen mounted by Aldrich is still in the Museum collections.
It has long been known to all collectors that many Ortalid flies have the habit of moving their wings back and forth, sometimes in unison, sometimes alternately, as though taking calisthenic exercises. I have observed two species, however, which have a different habit. These are Callopistria annulipes and Pseudotephritis vau; the latter has been observed but twice, the former many times. These flies, when at rest, sometimes, turn their wings and raise them directly over the back so that the costal edges touch and the under surface is directed forward. The wings are held vertical, and together make an oval figure In this position the fly struts around as if to show off. I have seen no reference to this habit, save that Harris in his "Treatise" says "Some of them are in the habit of suddenly raising their wings perpendicularly above their backs, and running along a few steps with them spread like the tail of a peacock," but he does not mention the species. The dipterous genus Callopistria is preoccupied several times.
I am aware of no published figure of the ovipositor of any otitid of the genera most closely related to Callopistromyia, viz., Pseudotephritis Johnson and Pseudotephritina Malloch. The apical part of the ovipositor of Callopistromyia annulipes is shown in ventral view in Fig. 3. A structure which has otherwise been noted only in species of Pareuxesta Coquillett (Otitidae Ulidiinae, Galapagos Archipelago; unpublished data) is evident in C. annulipes. It is a ridge or process on the ventral surface of the dorsal male of the egg passage and is furnished with many apically directed spicules. It may be presumed that the structure assists in directing the egg out of the oviduct, and inasmuch as a term for the structure is needed it is here designated oviprovector (from Latin ovum + provector). The total length of the ovipositor in the narrower sense, exclusive of the ovipositubus and the sheath, is 1.65 mm.
The great similarity of the male postabdomen to those of the species of Pseudotephritis figured by Steyskal (1962) confirms the close relationship of Callopistromyia to Pseudotephritis and its relatives, as expressed by me previously (Steyskal, 1975). The posterior view of the epandrium, surstyli, and epiphallus ("median peg") shown in Fig. 2, as well as other details of the postabdomen not figured, is very similar to the structures found in Pseudotephritis corticalis (Loew).
The puparia of Callopistromyia annulipes mentioned in the preceding paragraph, found on Grosse Ile in Acer negundo, may be described as follows: 1.5 mm wide by 4.0 mm long; light brown; of cylindrical shape usually among acalyptrate Diptera, with head end a little flattened dorso-ventrally; venter finely transversely wrinkled; dorsum smooth; segmental margins little constricted; posterior end as in Fig. 1; stigmatophores comma shaped, with 3 short slits, in shallowly depressed area surrounded by undulate ridges and a pair of ligulate processes, each about the diameter of a stigmatophore laterad of each stigmatophore; anal plates together forming a slightly depressed circular area.
The peacock fly (Callopistromyia annulipes) is a species of picture-winged flies in the genus Callopistromyia of the family Ulidiidae.[2][3] They are native to and widespread across North America. This species has recently been introduced accidentally to Europe, and is known from Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Czechia, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Croatia.[4]
Males and females posture and strut on rotting trees or logs with their wings raised vertically and pointed forward. The resemblance to a peacock's tail is enhanced by blue reflections.
The peacock fly (Callopistromyia annulipes) is a species of picture-winged flies in the genus Callopistromyia of the family Ulidiidae. They are native to and widespread across North America. This species has recently been introduced accidentally to Europe, and is known from Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Czechia, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Croatia.
