On Hannity Now, Delhi Flies

The Delhi Sands fly spends its two days of life sipping nectar and mating in the local sand dunes. This brief frolic has given rise to a bitter dispute, however, for the pollinating fly is on the federal endangered species list and the region, known as the Inland Empire, is growing as fast as any in the nation.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the breeding grounds for the fly, an ecosystem that once filled 40 square miles in the Inland Empire, amounts to a fragmented 1,200 acres of dunes. The clash between man and fly over these acres, in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, has become so heated that many favoring development say the only solution is to allow the fly to become extinct.

fly, Delhi Sands flower-loving
Rhaphiomidas terminatus abdominalis
Family: Apioceridae
Group: Insects

What is the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly? The Delhi Sands flower-loving fly is a 1-inch long insect currently restricted to only 12 known populations in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, California. Unlike the common house fly, it feeds on nectar and mimics the pollinating behavior of such species as the hummingbird, butterfly, and honey bee. The orange-brown and black Delhi Sands flower-loving fly has dark brown oval spots on the upper surface of the abdomen. For more information see the species description on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Law Enforcement web site.

From BeachBrowser.com 8/24/99

Fly Halts Calif. Projects

By CHELSEA J. CARTER
04:08 PM ET 08/24/99

COLTON, Calif. (AP) - Southern California construction projects worth hundreds of millions are being held up by a fly in the development. The U.S. government has all but halted development across the sand dunes in the desert east of Los Angeles to protect the tiny Delhi Sands flower-loving fly - the only fly ever to make the Endangered Species List.

Some people can't believe the fuss being made over a bug. ``People feel like their community is being run by a fly. Where it can develop, when it can develop - all dictated by a fly,'' said Ray Bragg, a development official in Fontana, one of several small cities whose plans have been thwarted by the orange-brown insect the size of a straight pin.

The flies' only known breeding grounds are the Delhi Sands dunes stretching from San Bernardino to Riverside to Ontario, about 60 miles from Los Angeles. The fine dunes were created by Santa Ana winds carrying grit from the mountains and dropping it in the desert valley.

The Delhi Sands are the largest remaining sand dune system in the Los Angeles basin. But the few dunes that remain are surrounded by freeways and encroaching development. Most of them are held by private land owners.

Because the fly's habitat is disappearing, its numbers are down to just several thousand. In 1993 it was designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an endangered species.

``Any time there's a listed species that's warm and fuzzy and endearing, it's easier for people to rally around it and work together toward a common goal. But this is about more than just God's creatures great and small,'' said Jeff Newman of the Fish and Wildlife Service. ``This is a unique system with unique species.'' Afraid the Delhi Sands fly will go the way of the El Segundo fly, which disappeared when its breeding grounds were paved over for a tarmac at the Los Angeles International Airport, the Fish and Wildlife Service has all but halted development on the dunes until it can be determined how many flies there are and how best to protect them.

In Fontana, developers' vision of a $500 million project of single-family homes, shopping centers and strip malls has been dashed. Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Rialto and Hemet have had to delay housing projects, critical in a region absorbing residential overflow from Los Angeles. Colton had hoped to build a manufacturing plant.

About $42 million in bonds will go into default in October because Fontana land owners unable to develop their land are unable to pay taxes.

Colton has $11 million in debt tied up in an idle electrical substation that was built to supply power to the proposed commercial developments. And the town is in danger of losing $300 million to $500 million in commercial projects because developers are looking elsewhere, Colton town manager Henry Garcia said. Back in 1995, the discovery of eight flies near the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton cost San Bernardino County $4 million to move the then-proposed hospital several hundred feet. The government and the communities that want to build are trying to agree on property that could be designated a protected habitat. The cities and county have proposed several sites, including 280 acres in Colton.

Wildlife officials said the process could take up to two years. But county and city officials are desperate to complete it by the end of the year.

``I don't want 20 years from now for my children to ask me where all the animals and insects went,'' Garcia said. ``But I don't want to have to tell the residents that their city lost millions because of a fly. There has to be a middle ground.''

"Quick, Henry -- the Flit!"

Abolish flies.