Not A Cat
(Cuterebra buccata, a gorgeous botfly which apparently parasitizes bunnies? So large I thought she was a cicada when I first sighted her, in the last shot!)
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Not quite an entomologist, just a general biologist, but those are (if I'm not mistaken) wing alula - hinged flaps that help control wing kinematics and 'flight modes'. (For some reason that alula is unusually large in this group of species.)
I'm not sure if the alula would stick out like that when the wings are neatly folded? Couldn't these just be the halteres? Pretty sure I've seen flies that had some that look like miniature wings instead of the typical head pin shape.
Not a dipterist, but alula can be quite large (see photo) and can stick up when folded. Halteres look like little joysticks...even though I know they help flies pull off some of their flying tricks, I don't really understand how
Fig. from Walker et al. 2011: www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Ooh, good one. Halteres is def a possibility.
Still, to the extent that we can trust it, this wikimedia figure makes me think alula (number 3 in pic).
Also, this 2006 chapter (www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.5...) notes that the alula is 'particularly well developed' in Cuterebrinae.
So cute (even has “cute” in the genus name) and also nightmare fuel. The squirrels in my garden sometimes sport big botfly warbles, and it’s like “Alien” in real life.
Oh my god, I've seen plenty of their larvae in vet clinics, but I didn't realize the adults were so gorgeous! Just another good reason to keep bunnies inside!
