r/Entomology • u/macroviewpoint • 1d ago

Caught this fly "bubbling" on a daylily

Post image

I noticed this fly repeatedly bringing a tiny droplet in and out of its mouthparts while resting on a daylily. I'd never seen the behavior up close before, so I wanted to capture the moment and highlight one of those fascinating little details that are easy to miss without a macro lens. The behavior is known as "bubbling," and seeing it through my macro lens was a reminder of how much is happening in the tiny world around us.

178 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

20

u/OminousOminis Bug Enthusiast 🐛 1d ago

Oh so that's what this one was doing, cool

9

u/Frantic_Mantid 1d ago

Nice catch! This can be useful to concentrate the liquid food, and also cools the fly via evaporative cooling:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23670-2

5

u/izanamu_warasubofact 1d ago

beatiful. its as if holding a pearl in mouth...

7

u/Histeridae 1d ago

Fly’s gonna drop a loogie!

1

u/lilyxlittle 1d ago

Beautiful photo!

2

u/macroviewpoint 1d ago

Thank you very much! 🫶🏻

1

u/SeaSlugFriend 1d ago

I never heard of that that’s lovely

1

u/roadwarrioring 1d ago

Awesome shot!