Hesse (1969) redescribed this species as follows: Body mainly brownish, reddish brownish to dark blackish brown, the posterior part of female sometimes more yellowish or mud-coloured to a variable extent, and the medial ocellar ridge, sides of frons, especially in male, disc of thorax, metanotum in male and in boths exes to a variable extent basal part of abdomen or even greater part or entire abdomen above more blackish than brownish; antennae yellowish or reddish brownish, brownish to blackish brown, the middle part of clubs more often yellowish or orange; clypeus reddish brown, dark reddish brownish to blackish brown, sometimes slightly paler in female; humeral tubercles pale yellowish brownish or reddish brownish to a variable extent, sometimes dark in male; area around humeral tubercles, sides of thorax (more broadly in female), postalar calli, sometimes narrowish base of thorax in male, broadish base of same in female, two submedial discal streaks of variable extent in female, and scutellum in female yellowish, yellowish reddish or reddish, the sides of thorax and scutellum in male sometimes entirely dark; metanotum in female usually mainly pale yellowish brownish to mud-coloured; tergite 1 in both sexes sometimes more reddish brownish, its hind margin reddish; hind margins of tergites 2-7 in male yellowish whitish, conspicuous, fairly broadish, more narrowly, less conspicuously so in female and only evident on sides of 2-4 or 5, being dark discally; bullae reddish to dark reddish, vertically longer in male, more narrowly separated dorsally in male, hind margins of sternites 2–5 or 6 conspicuously or more broadly yellowish whitish or whitish on sides of male, narrower in female, legs pale yellowish in female and in some males, but femora in male darkened or more brownish to a variable extent or even mainly blackish brownish, the coxae in both sexes darker, but very dark in males with darkened femora, the apical parts of hind tibiae and hind tarsi sometimes darkened to a variable extent in dark-legged male. Integument of the greater part of head and body, including coxae, rather conspicuously shining, the only disc of thorax above dulled to a variable extent; abdomen above in female with sparse, scattered, setiferous puncturation, in male slightly denser, denser posteriorly in both sexes, the last two tergites in both sexes with transverse striation, denser in male. Vestiture relatively poorly developed in both sexes, more so and shorter in female, those on head, anteriorly on thorax, tergite 1, coxae and femora in male and lower parts of hypopygium in male longish and conspicuous, very short in female, those on disc of thorax even in male sparse and shortish, and those on abdomen above in female, apart from shortish ones on tergite 1 and reversed ones posteriorly, very short; hairs on vertex, sides of frons, sides and lower parts of clypeus, head below, on thorax above in male, sides of thorax in female, pleurae in both sexes, on tergite 1 in male sides anteriorly of tergite 1 in male, sites anteriorly of tergite 1 in female; those on sternite 9 of male longish ones on femora in male greyish whitish; hairs on frons on each side anteriorly in both sexes, some on clypeus above in male, on entire face and clypeus in female, those discally on thorax and on tergite 1 in female brownish; those on antennal segments 1 and 2 in both sexes also dark; short hairs on abdomen above in both sexes, as well as those on venter in male, also dark; very short, sparse hairs on femora in female, short ones on front and middle femora above and on upper outer and lower apical aspects of hind femora in male, those on hind tibiae in both sexes (much shorter in female), on apical parts of front and middle ones above in female and those on tarsi in both sexes dark or blackish; hairs on front and middle tibiae and on coxae in male and greater part of hind coxae in female whitish; spines and spicules on legs yellowish to yellowish reddish. Head with the antennae longer than thorax above, though sometimes relatively shorter in female; segment 1 scarcely or not much thickened, shortish, about 2 to nearly 3 times length of 2; segment 3 elongate, subequal in length to or more often longer than club, its apical part well marked off, though very slightly or scarcely thickened ; club elongate, slightly longer in male than in female, amphoriform, its basal third or fourth in male and less than basal fourth in female constricted bottle-neck-like, its apical part conical or subtruncated on lower part, ending in a crater-like tubercle, and with a girdle of dark separated hairs beyond middle; clypeus rather convex; proboscis markedly short, confined to length of buccal cavity, or only extreme tip slightly projecting, relatively stumpy, its labella subequal in length to or scarcely shorter or longer than basal part and pointed apically; palps minute; postvertical spines slender, bristle-like. Wings uniformly tinted yellowish brownish to a variable degree, though usually paler in female, and in male often with conspicuous darker fuscous borders along veins; veins yellowish or pale yellowish brownish, sometimes pallid in hinder half in female; apex of discoidal cell shortly stalked to a variable extent, the apex of third posterior cell more often tending to be angular or subangular; hind border of wings in apical half narrower than cells; knobs of halteres dark brownish above. Legs slender; hind femora only very slightly thickened, slightly more so in male, armed below with a double row of rather separated spines from just before middle; hind tibiae slightly curved before apex; basal segment of hind tarsi relatively elongate, even longer than penultimate segment plus claw-segment; claws longer in g and less curved down apically than in female. Oviscape in female with 7 to 9 fulvous yellowish to yellowish brownish spines on aside. Hypopygium of male with the lateral lobes of tergite 9 rather sharply angular or subangular apically; processes of sternite 9 elongate, markedly broadish, slightly twisted propeller-blade-like, hollowed out below, bluntly rounded apically, but inner margin in apical part more rapidly narrowed towards apex than the outer one, its outer or lateral face with relatively coarse, elongate punctures and its upper face apically also with some coarse punctures; sternite 9 itself somewhat atypical in being more dorso-ventrally depressed or flatter than in fasciata, more scoop-like, narrowed apically, densely covered with hairs, but more so, more tuft-like on sides apically; phallic tubes of aedeagus with rather conspicuous gonopores and epimere narrowish, pointed apically. Length of body: about 13.0-17.5 mm; Length of wing: about 9.00-12.25 mm.

The details on the diagnostic description for the species are included in the morphological description.

Type locality: South Africa, Gauteng, Faerie Glen, Pretoria.

South Africa

South Africa, Gauteng, Pretoria (August-October). Types from Faerie Glen in Pretoria (Munro, 19 Sept. 1915) (Hesse 1969).

The information below was extracted from Cannings and Scudder (2005): Dipterans are primarily aerial insects and the mesothorax, which bears the only pair of wings, dominates the thorax - the prothorax and metathorax are greatly reduced. The legs are normally rather simple and are used primarily for perching; in some groups, they are modified for prey capture or for signalling during courtship. The tarsi are nearly always 5-segmented. The functional wings are membranous and their pattern of veins is critical in fly classification and identification. During the evolution of flies, there has been a trend towards a reduction in veins, especially in the rear half of the wing – changes that evidently relate to improvements in two-winged flight. The hindwings, present in most other insects, are reduced in Diptera to small, club-like organs, called halteres, used for stabilising flight.

Herbivore - Nectarivore (nectar-eating)

The flies in this family are not known to hunt, catch or prey upon other insects as asilids do, but mainly feed on nectar (Hesse 1969).

Like the others, flies in the Mydidae family begin life as an egg, which hatches into a grub-like larva. Most of the fly life is spent in the larval stage, mainly eating and growing, as well as molting several times. Some flies may spend at least a year as a larva. The next stage is a pupa, during which the insect transforms into its final stage, emerging from the pupa as a winged adult, able to mate and reproduce. In many species, males stake out positions at favourable egg-laying sites and wait for females to arrive (Hesse 1969).

The specimens of this genus are mainly collected from August to February (with one record in March) (Kirk-Spriggs and Sinclair 2017).