Size?

The body is 3 millimeters long. Sorry, I should have provided that.

Another name for a fly youngster is "maggot." So, not a fly.

I thought maggots were larvae, and I didn't know if flies had another stage in their development.

Thanks! Any other possibilities?

There are no fly "nymphs". For flies, the sequence goes egg-larva-pupa-adult.

Thanks, Larry. Does this look like any kind of nymph to you? And I guess the other question is this: Is it possible to ID most nymphs, or do they look rather generic?

It is a louse fly, also known as deer ked.
(in Diptera, the Order of flies)

It's combined appearance of a louse and a fly led me to:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/13382/bgimage?from=0

Some have wings until the first encounter with a victim, others are wingless. Wings fall off easily.

Thanks for posting a most interesting insect.
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It is possible to identify most insect nymphs once they have reached a stage to take on adult colorations.

This post was edited by larry_gene on Fri, Oct 24, 14 at 23:12

Thank you! I read further and saw this:

âÂÂMost are found on birds, others on mammalsâ and we have discovered that some species are found on livestock and others on deer. Louse Flies can be opportunistic, and if they cannot locate their typical prey, some will feed on human blood.

I'm glad he's off my son's neck!

We have a lot of deer on our property, and I guess bringing us ticks wasn't enough. I've welcomed the deer, but there are times when I wish they'd find somewhere else to go. Seven of them were in my front yard when I got home this afternoon.

Thanks again. I'd never heard of louse flies, and hope I don't start seeing a lot of them.

You're welcome.

Ironically, one of the previous bugguide ID requests stated the fly was found on the person's neck. Must be a common event.

I saw that! I sent it to my son, saying his wasn't the only neck that attracted a louse fly. Now that I think about it, a couple of years ago I found something that looked similar on the back of my own neck, in my hair. I had been harvesting pole beans under an arch, and assumed it had dropped onto my head. I remember thinking it was a nymph. (No, I'm not normally nymph-obsessed. LOL)