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Feather-legged fly (male)

Trichopoda sp.

Photo by Aaron_G
Published on Project Noah
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36.1524, -95.9904

Field Notes

Description:

Trichopoda is a genus of tachinid flies, commonly known as the feather-legged flies or hairy-legged flies. The name comes from Greek, Tricho meaning hair and poda meaning foot. They are small, brightly-colored flies that congregate on flowers, feeding on nectar. The vestigial hind wings are covered with yellow scales and there is a fringe of hairs on the hind legs. The larvae are parasitoids of true bugs in the order Hemiptera, including stink bugs and squash bugs in the family Pentatomidae and leaf-footed bugs in the family Coreidae. They are found in North and South America. (information from Wikipedia)

Habitat:

Garden in a City park

Notes:

These flies are sexually dimorphic. The males have orange abdomens and the females have dark abdomens. (information from BugGuide)

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (2)

Thanks, Luis. I see these sporadically. They can sometimes be tricky to catch up with, but this one was thankfully accommodating and slow to move around the flowers.

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