Fly mating (Stilt legged fly, Micropezidae) | Insect Behavior #video #insects #love

Stilt-legged fly shows the peculiar behaviour of flicking forelegs all the time. This behaviour is significant from an evolutionary point of view. By doing so, they mimic the movement of the antennae of some predatory wasps. Hence, most of the time they escape from predation and live life safely in the wild. Even at the moment of copulation, the female always shows this leg flicking behaviour! This video features a moment of copulation by two individuals of this stilt-legged fly (family- Micropezidae). They copulate for quite a long time with intervals. At the end of each part, the male gives off salivary droplet to the female as a gift. The drop of liquid comes from male's mouth and falls on the head of female; and the female transfers the droplet by the foreleg to her own mouth. This is so interesting to observe their intimate instinct behaviour up close.