Dead-wood-association
Guides
Calobatina geometra
Calobatina geometra is a species of stilt-legged fly in the family Micropezidae, occurring in the eastern United States. Adults are noted for their distinctive elongated middle and hind legs, their wasp-like appearance suggesting mimicry of ichneumonid wasps, and their characteristic behavior of waving their forelegs, which bear conspicuous white bands above black feet. The species has been observed aggregating on standing dead oak trunks in dry-mesic upland deciduous forest.
Chalcosyrphus metallicus
Yellow-legged Leafwalker
Chalcosyrphus metallicus is an uncommon species of syrphid fly found in the southeastern United States. Unlike many hoverflies that visit flowers for nectar and pollen, adults of this species are associated with dead and decaying wood. The species exhibits distinctive enlarged and spinose metafemora on the hind legs, a trait shared with related species in the genus. Larvae develop as saprophages in rotting wood rather than as aphid predators like many other syrphids.
Phyllobaenus plagifer
Phyllobaenus plagifer is a species of checkered beetle in the family Cleridae, described by Fall in 1906. Checkered beetles in this genus are generally small to medium-sized with distinctive color patterns. Members of the genus Phyllobaenus are often associated with dead or dying wood and are predatory or scavengers in their feeding habits. The species is documented from North America.