What do you give a man? A pair of socks or a noise maker to work with are old-fashioned and role-confirming. How about something tasty? A fat woman is a good idea then. In eastern North America, that’s the pinnacle of attraction, at least for dance flies that bear the scientific name Rhampomyia longicauda. There is no Dutch name, but I propose fat-doers.
These dance flies are special because the traditional roles have been reversed. In nature, it is often the case that males form courtship arenas, where females come and select a partner to mate with. But not with fat eaters. The choice lies with the man.
swollen abdomen
This is because the female does not hunt herself and depends for her food on protein-rich insects that a male catches for her. If there are enough hungry ladies, the giver of a prey can choose the most beautiful. And that’s a fat one. A swollen abdomen in female insects indicates that her eggs are ripe for fertilization and that copulation offers a decent chance of offspring. But the temptation of a full figure can lead to deception.
At dusk, the women gather to dance
At dusk, the women gather to dance. They do this in a place with a lot of vegetation, where there is an opening in the foliage just above the dance floor, so that there is an unobstructed view of the sky above. Before a fat woman enters that space, she makes herself beautiful. She has pleats on the sides of the abdomen, which she spreads and pumps full of air to create cushions that make her body three times as wide. To look even more swollen, she uses her paws. The middle and back pair have large, long-haired brushes that she holds next to her inflated body during the dance. This reinforces the illusion. In this way she plays the fertile woman, even though her eggs may not be ripe at all. However, her hunger is real.
Dream women
A man who then flies hopefully with prey among the dancing ladies, will see the silhouettes of a swarm of dream women against the heavenly background. When he has found one that meets his ideal image, he hangs just below her, whereupon she drops on top of him. Together they leave the dance floor to mate. They do that in the air. At that moment he must therefore not only carry the prey that she will eat from, but also his partner. This is why the woman’s fatness just has to be bearable. She must therefore be excessively fat to be elected, but must not exaggerate.
While some human women try to make themselves more attractive with implants in buttocks and breasts, or spray on their lips, female fatters can do that with some air. Blow-up doll would also have been a possible name. Only these flies have a bit more content. And an inflatable doll is usually a less suitable gift for human men.