Pholeomyia texensis Sabrosky, 1959

Adults were observed to mate on the ant mound surface in the late afternoon, following a heavy rain. After mating, the females waited next to ant trails, on or beside leaves being cut on the ground by ants, than hopped onto leaves carried past. Flies rode as far as a metre to the nest. Sometimes two or more flies rode the same leaf. Minim Atta texana workers also occasionally rode the same leaves flies were riding, but did not interact with the milichiid flies (Waller 1980).

P. texensis larvae develop in the waste material of the fungus gardens of the leaf-cutting ant Atta texana. This waste is stored in subterranean detritus cavities. In laboratory cultures females laid eggs on sterile detritus. The detritus was quickly overgrown with fungal hyphae and the flies were dead within two days. After about two weeks pupae appreared on the detritus surface and on the sides of the vials. The maturation time for the species lies between 20 and 30 days (Waller 1984).

Flies were observed between June through November and in January and February