Living Dangerously

A New Zealand native green soldier fly belonging to the Stratiomyid species. It’s 10mm long. As well as a green face the under part of its abdomen is green. It has bright green halteres. Part of one can be seen between the wing and back leg. These replace the second pair of wings and are used for balance in flight. A curious thing about their eyes is that they have a dark horizontal line. It can barely be seen in this shot.

The fly is living dangerously because it is hanging out on the curry flowers in the hunting ground of the three praying mantis nymphs that are now just about big enough to tackle a slim fly this size.