The great bot fly hunt 2023
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136850154
Re-posting comments of @equalrights4parasites from the above observation:
Wow! C. mirabilis (mirabilis is Latin for extraordinary)! Which this find is! This may be the rarest bot (or any fly) on INaturalist! I have actually spent time in Rio Rancho years ago in late September trying to find this fly. In the world there are only 3 known specimens in collections of this species, and pictures of two others in photos, and all 5 were females! [Update Correction:I thought this was a male but it appears to also be female on closer look] The key to ID is the red in the eyes... all red eyed Cuterebra in N. America are rabbit bots. There is no other all dark rabbit bot known. All known female specimens of this bot came from about a 30 mile radius in New Mexico (around Albuquerque), and dates were all late Sept (except one reared from a black-tailed jackrabbit that came out in captivity in Oct). The bot seems to be using only a NM subspecies of black-tailed jackrabbit, otherwise it would be far more widespread. A fabulous find.
Males may hang out on hilltops or at higher elevation.
Males are likely hard to find because the males go to programmed in spots to sit and wait for females (often on mountain tops or hill tops, some rabbit bots use outcrops on the sides of mountains). Often these males fight over the mating spots, from 8 am till about noon, and then hide to save energy the rest of the day and night. They look like they are playing king of the hill, and females will go to these same historic spots in the morning and mate withe male holding the spot when she arrives. So unless you stumble on a lek at the right time of day, the males can be very hard to find,....but when your find a lek you may see many males in one spot!. Females are found more often because they are busy flying over large areas to find the host rabbits. So keep your eyes out while on walks in the nearby hills in late Sept for a male lek! I would love to know what the male looks like. A great INaturalist challenge!
Comments
@equalrights4parasites @socratesdl @caterpillarofsociety @mafic-man @ellen5 @joshuacde @mdpurdy @christopherrustay @miguel1958 @brandtmagic @devoncox @ladwings
Not an exhaustive list of folks, but enough to start the conversation. Where should we look? Do we want to meet in the petroglyphs area this weekend or next? Between us, we can cover lots of sites for potential morning leks.
@jnstuart @wwench @tomkennedy @mjandersen @alexanderprice
@jasonk03 @ddnm @g33k5p34k
Shoot, wish I could. I'll be away on vacation starting this weekend and coming back the next. Possibly able to do something early Saturday the 16th
I could go 22nd or 23rd.
My sundays are open, saturdays a little trickier on short notice.
Nevertheless, a field day during this splendid weather would be most enjoyable. I would make the effort.
I could do a half-day this Sat or Sun (9/15 or 16) but will be out of town next weekend--at the Native Plant Society of NM annual conference in Alpine, TX!
You could join us Sunday 09/16 at Piedras Marcadas, 9AM, meet at the designated parking lot behind the Valvoline
Ellen and Marty, see you in the morning. Rest of you, still time to try the last weekend of September and first two weeks of October!
Good luck "bot-hunting" all!
Thanks for organizing this. No idea what the male will look like, but it will be a very large fly with red spots in the eyes, similar to female. Likely a similar face pattern, but hard to say. Females will be looking for areas where black tailed jackrabbits hang out or have recently pooped. They will lay eggs where rabbits are feeding or have recently fed. My wife and I are currently in self quarantine, due to exposure from 2 people with Covid this weekend. But sending good bot vibes.
First outing found no bots, jackrabbits, or fresh scat. We’ll keep trying.
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