Matt Bertone

@bertonemyia

Entomologist passionate about flies, beetles, spiders, mites... Also macro photography. Director & diagnostician at NC State Plant Disease and Insect Clinic. Opinions are my own. He/him Raleigh, NC, USA

1.889 Folgt4.290 Follower914 Posts

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Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· 11d

Sometimes you've gotta go metallic to mimic your model! This common tropical hover #fly at the top is a convincing mimic of the local orchid #bees in the genus #Euglossa (bottom). #FlySchool2026 #Syrphidae: #Ornidia obesa Soltis Center, Costa Rica

Two metallic green winged insects on a white background, one at the top and one at the bottom. The top one is a hover fly and the bottom is an orchid bee.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· 12d

Just a couple big-headed flies making more big-headed flies, which I appreciate so I can see more big-headed flies 😁 #Pipunculidae #FlySchool2026 Costa Rica [PS: Jim Hogue is about to wow us w/these flies & their close relatives the hover flies!] @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @dipteracourse.bsky.social

Two big-headed flies mating, the male on top of female. They on the end of a small twig with a black background and are facing right. They are dark, with evenly-spaced light gray patches on their abdomen. Their heads are massive and made up mostly of the eyes.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· 14d

Be a dipterist. Be in Costa Rica for #FlySchool2026. See a muscoid #fly perching on a leaf. Tell student so they can collect it. Success!! Wait a minute 🤔 That's not a fly, but weevil mimicking one! This was so convincing, even rapidly moving & poking its wings out 🥰 #Curculionidae: cf. #Mnemynurus

A weevil with red around its neck, resembling the eyes of a fly. It has large brown eyes and a long yellow proboscis curving under the body. It's on a white background facing the viewer.

A weevil with red around its neck, resembling the eyes of a fly. It has large brown eyes and a long yellow proboscis curving under the body. The wing cover are mottled brown and white. It is on a white background facing left.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· 15d

Spectacular catch on the 1st day of #FlySchool2026 by student Sangjin Han! This massive timber fly was flying around the lobby of the Soltis Center last night. At over 2"/5 cm this is the largest live fly I've ever seen 😳 Larvae bore in wood. Amazing! 🥰 #Pantophthalmidae: #Pantophthalmus Costa Rica

A large brown fly with yellow-tipped legs and pointy orange antennae sits facing right on a white background.

A large brown fly with yellow-tipped legs and pointy orange antennae sits facing right on a white background. A human finger is resting above it to show the large size.

A large brown fly with yellow-tipped legs and pointy orange antennae sits facing toward the viewer on a white background.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· 21d

I wasn't going to admit that. How about the fly of beetles in return?

A wedge-shaped beetle with short wing covers and long hind wings injects eggs into a flower bud.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jul 14

I'm glad to do my part to help protect American science and other funding. Commenting period ends at midnight EST! Policy: www.regulations.gov/document/OMB... To add your voice (comment): www.regulations.gov/commenton/OM...

Screenshot of email header stating "Your Comment Submitted on Regulations.gov (ID: OMB-2026-0034-0001)"

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jul 3

The girls wanted a place to give away the countless art pieces they make for fun 🎨 🖌️ So, on/off for a about a year we've been working on this little community art house, made from scratch 👩‍🎨 🏠 Finally finished & I think it turned out great! Hopefully it's a nice way to share with the neighborhood ☺️

Bald bearded man sitting behind a table saw in a workshop with tools on the wall behind him. In front of him is a small wooden house with a corrugated metal roof, with the window-like door clamped on.

A small "house" sits atop a yellow post, sunk into a bucket painted to resemble a pencil eraser. The sign on the post says "Take Art Leave Art". The house has a door with a clear front and a corrugated metal roof. It's painted to look like it has siding too.

Close up of a small "house" atop a yellow post. The house has a door with a clear front and a corrugated metal roof. Through the door you can see some art pieces inside.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 27

Little tigers are all around 🐅 You just gotta look sometimes! 🔍 ground #spider; #Gnaphosidae: #Sergiolus capulatus North Carolina , USA

A spider sits on a green leaf, facing left. It is covered with fine fur and brightly colored orange red with wide black stripes on the legs and black and white stripes on the abdomen (the middle stripe being broken in the middle).

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 26

Our department is hiring folks to help with work on screwworm! Follow this link to see the position and apply: jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/231...

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 23

I recognize several of them, especially this amazing species 😍

A caterpillar sits bent on a leaf. It is black with central roundish bursts of white surrounded by gold. Most segments have a long lateral projection with a paddle-shaped tip.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 21

The answer? It's a dustywing baby/larva! These insects are small predators of small soft-bodied arthropods & can be beneficial in controlling plant pests. They are the smallest members of the order #Neuroptera, also having a reduced wing venation. #Coniopterygidae NC, USA bsky.app/profile/bert...

A dusty white, moth-like insect with long antennae sits on a reflective surface. It has wings that are rounded near the tips and white, dusty legs.

An insect with long thick antennae and grayish brown wings sits on an off-white surface. It has a reddish hue to the thorax.

A plump, soft-bodied insect larva sits on a leaf facing the camera. It has a small pointed head with moderately long antennae. The body is brown with a few large white spots on the sides.

A plump, soft-bodied insect larva sits on the tip of a leaf facing down. It has moderately long antennae. The body is brown with a few large white spots on the sides and the tip of the abdomen.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 20

Hey there strange little one 👋 I like your vibe 😎 Anyone care to guess what this insect is*? About 2 mm in length 🔍🕵️ . . . *And maybe you just know it and want to let other people have fun with this?

A long insect with a soft body lined in white with brown stripes walks on a green leaf. It has a pointed tip of the abdomen and long translucent white legs. It also has long antennae with long evenly spaced hairs, and small little eyes.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 18

I was totally confused, because I thought the comment was on the bot fly photo. I kept looking at its tarsi! 😂 On this one it makes sense. Luckily Karl commented on it. Eupelmidae also often key out near Enycrtidae, because they also have an enlarged mesopleuron + larger mid legs/tarsi with spines:

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 13

You think your life is 💩? Sure, amateur. This baby lives in a little wizard hat made of its own poo, then blossoms into a lovely little fecal pellet beetle. And they wouldn't have it any other way 🥰 warty leaf #beetle; #Chrysomelidae: #Exema North Carolina, USA @dradriansmith.bsky.social

A muddy brown hat like case on a green twig, with a dry tip and wet front, hides a little beetle inside. You can see the tips of three little feet coming out and gripping the plant.

A cylindrical, warty black beetle sits on some foliage.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 12

🚨 Lifer alert! 🚨 Check out this deer bot #fly that @dradriansmith.bsky.social found while we were hunting bugs - my first time getting pics of a wild adult of this family! It's a convincing bee mimic, whose babies live in the sinuses & throats of deer 😋 👀 #Oestridae: #Cephenemyia phobifer NC, USA

A large bodied, fuzzy yellow fly, looking like a bumble bee, sits on a leaf, viewed from above.

A large bodied, fuzzy yellow fly, looking like a bumble bee, sits on white background, viewed from the side facing right.

A large bodied, fuzzy yellow fly, looking like a bumble bee, sits on white background, viewed from above next to a US dime.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 12

I just think they're neat parasitoid #wasp #Hymenoptera #Eupelmidae #Phlebopenes North Carolina, USA

A long iridescent blue and green wasp, with red legs, and a long ovipositor ("stinger") faces downward on pine bark

A long iridescent blue and green wasp, with red legs, and a long ovipositor ("stinger") faces left on a white background

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 7

This little origami bug's got it. diamondback spittlebug #Aphrophoridae: #Lepyronia quadrangularis; North Carolina, USA

An angular bug sits on a green leaf, seen from the side. It's mottled brown and beige, with a flat head (oveal eyes on the edges) and back, and vertical folded wings, like a little pointy paper box or puffed out envelope.

An angular bug sits on a green leaf, seen from the top. It's mottled brown and beige, with a flat head (oveal eyes on the edges) and back, and vertical folded wings, like a little pointy paper box or puffed out envelope.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Jun 2

Excited!!!! 📽️🍿🎟️ 🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨👾🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨

Outside theater #6 showing the poster for The Backrooms

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 24

Some pretties from the other day at the North Carolina Botanical Garden (Chapel Hill) 🥰 blue mud dauber #Sphecidae grapeleaf skeletonizer #Zygaenidae purple damselfly #Coenagrionidae orange assassin bug #reduviidae

A steel blue iridescent wasp with dark wings and a thin waist rests on yellow foliage next to an orange yellow flower

An iridescent dark blue moth with thin wings and an orange collar sits on a green leaf

a purple damselfly sits on the edge of a fern leaf

An orange assassin bug with black rings on the legs and back sits perched on a flower cluster

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 23

Camouflage game: 💯 Does not want to see you...or vice versa 🤫 geometer #moth #Geometridae North Carolina, USA

Smooth bark on a tree mottled with lichens hides a similar gray and brown geometer moth, spreading it's wings and breaking up its pattern

Close up of smooth bark on a tree mottled with lichens with a gray and brown geometer moth, spreading it's wings and breaking up its pattern

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 10

What a wee little fuzzy #beetle baby! 🍼👶 Anyone want to guess who mama is?

A small pale curled up grub of a beetle larva sits in a small excavation in wood. It has large mandibles and a body covered in straw-colored hair.

A small pale curled up grub of a beetle larva sits on wood. It has large mandibles and a body covered in straw-colored hair.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 10

Happy #MothersDay to ALL the moms out there! [I'm fortunate to be married to the best mother of our two girls I could ever imagine ❤️. This is not her, though 😂 Drawing circa 1999]

A theropod dinosaur type creature with green skin, purple spots, and a white, skull-like head with small red winged ears stands over her nest of blue eggs on the ground. At the top left it says "Happy Mother's Day"

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 6

It's #WorldCarnivorousPlantDay! The clinic will be hosting a booth at the Carnivorous & Exotic Plant Symposium & Expo (www.carnivorousplants.org/about/CEPExp...) & the organizers have offered 2 free 1-day tickets. See details in the ad's ALT text! 🚨This is a 24-hour deal so please share+tag soon 🚨

We are giving away 2 tickets to the Carnivorous & Exotic Plant Symposium & Expo 2026 in Kernersville, NC.

70 booths of rare, exotic, and collector plants
NC natives, orchids, cactus, and more
Plant experts and talks all weekend

To enter:

- Share this post
- Tag 2–3 friends

Winner chosen in 24 hours

May 16–17
Kernersville Parks & Recreation Center

Kids 17 and under are free

Tickets include a 1-year ICPS membership

Advance tickets required:
https://icps.clubexpress.com

A venus fly trap seen from ground level.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 4

What a power couple!!! 👀 🪰 These soldier #flies show how sexually dimorphic some flies can be (I guess they show how sexually active too!). Many flies have ♂️♂️ with eyes large & touching ("holoptic") while ♀️♀️ have well-separated eyes ("dichoptic"). #Stratiomyidae: #Allognosta NC, USA #FlyWeek

Two flies sit on the smooth bark of a tree above and below with their abdomen tips connected. Both are dark colored, but the male above has huge psychedelic blue and purple eyes that touch and take up most of the head, while the female below has normal, separated dark eyes.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 3

This #scarab genus has been on my life list & my colleagues found it! Gareth Powell & Kyle Schnepp collected it from a huge mound ant infestation which makes sense...they live in ant nests! Adults feed on ant larvae; larvae do similar or might eat veg. matter #Scarabaeidae: #Cremastocheilus NC, USA

A dull black, rectangular beetle rests on a white background facing left. It has a flat back with small elongate pits scattered across its body. It has short antennae and thick legs.

A dull black, rectangular beetle rests on a white background facing left toward the viewer. It has a flat back with small elongate pits scattered across its body. It has short antennae and thick legs.

A dull black, rectangular beetle rests on a white background facing left towards the viewer. It has a flat back with small elongate pits scattered across its body. It has short antennae and thick legs.

A black, rectangular beetle is flipped upside down on a white background facing left. It has a shiny venter with scattered small elongate pits. Under the head is a large cup-like structure behind the upper lip.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 3

True flies (order #Diptera) are amazing & under appreciated! Most people think only of house flies, but there's >160,000 described spp. w/many more to be discovered. They go by many names including mosquitoes, gnats, & midges. Check out the blue eyes on this predatory midge #Ceratopogonidae #FlyWeek

A shiny, black, elongate predatory midge sits on a white background. It has long thin antennae and long thin legs. It also has brilliant blues eyes.

A shiny, black, elongate predatory midge sits on a green leaf. It has long thin antennae and long thin legs. It also has brilliant blues eyes.

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· May 1

Very nice! Here's my solution:

Goose neck fiber lights tipped with a plastic vial with the end cut off and foam taped I'm front to diffuse the light

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Apr 20

Manual focus on this lens started failing a while ago. Label is a future warning. To be fair, it was a solid lens.

Macro camera lens with "Bad MF" written in gold sharpie

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Apr 14

Most surprising find @ bee aggregation '26 were lots of thick-headed #flies emerging! They're parasitoids of adult bees, grabbing them mid-air to inject eggs into the abdomen. Eww but cool! (I guess not if you're a bee 😂) Here's one on a flower: flic.kr/p/2ocMhfV #Conopidae: #Zodion NC, USA

Two flies a small distance away from each other grasp grass blades above the ground after emerging from bee nests.

A fly grasping a blade of grass is still soft and with shriveled wings. It has just emerged from a bee nest below.

A view of a heavy-bodied brown fly with large red eyes sitting on the tip of a leaf blade.

A grayish brown fly with a yellow face and reddish eyes rests on a white background. It has a long beak held under and behind its head

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia· Apr 12

Another parasite of Colletes bees was this pretty, wingless blister #beetle. Adults emerge after spending winter in the nest to mate & lay eggs near new nests. Mobile larvae (triungulins) grab ♂️ bees to infest ♀️ while they mate. Larvae ride back to eat bee eggs+pollen. #Meloidae: #Tricrania NC, USA