Diario de egordon88

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136850154

Re-posting comments of @equalrights4parasites from the above observation:

Wow! C. mirabilis (mirabilis is Latin for extraordinary)! Which this find is! This may be the rarest bot (or any fly) on INaturalist! I have actually spent time in Rio Rancho years ago in late September trying to find this fly. In the world there are only 3 known specimens in collections of this species, and pictures of two others in photos, and all 5 were females! [Update Correction:I thought this was a male but it appears to also be female on closer look] The key to ID is the red in the eyes... all red eyed Cuterebra in N. America are rabbit bots. There is no other all dark rabbit bot known. All known female specimens of this bot came from about a 30 mile radius in New Mexico (around Albuquerque), and dates were all late Sept (except one reared from a black-tailed jackrabbit that came out in captivity in Oct). The bot seems to be using only a NM subspecies of black-tailed jackrabbit, otherwise it would be far more widespread. A fabulous find.

Males may hang out on hilltops or at higher elevation.

Males are likely hard to find because the males go to programmed in spots to sit and wait for females (often on mountain tops or hill tops, some rabbit bots use outcrops on the sides of mountains). Often these males fight over the mating spots, from 8 am till about noon, and then hide to save energy the rest of the day and night. They look like they are playing king of the hill, and females will go to these same historic spots in the morning and mate withe male holding the spot when she arrives. So unless you stumble on a lek at the right time of day, the males can be very hard to find,....but when your find a lek you may see many males in one spot!. Females are found more often because they are busy flying over large areas to find the host rabbits. So keep your eyes out while on walks in the nearby hills in late Sept for a male lek! I would love to know what the male looks like. A great INaturalist challenge!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/33163266