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Please tell us what kind of bee this is….
We live in the Rocky Mtns just west of Denver. Elevation about 9000. Thanks,
Terry

Tachinid Fly

Are you sure? The tachinid on the site looks yellow where this one is so orange and this one hangs on the flowers like a bee…..

Ed. Note: On occasion, in an effort to respond to as many readers as possible, we reply with a general identification. We have also misidentified more specimens than we care to admit. This is a Tachinid Fly in the family Tachinidae. According to BugGuide, this is the: “second-largest family in the order Diptera (behind Tipulidae) 1,345 species in 303 genera in North America listed at Tachinidae of America North of Mexico by O’Hara and Wood.” We do not have every single scientific name committed to memory, and it takes time to looks them up, so we gave a general answer as to the family. Since many Tachinid Flies do not resemble the one in the photo, our reader was confused. Upon being questioned, we decided to give a more specific answer. The fly in the photo is in the subfamily Tachinae. It may be Adejeania vexatrix, but we are leaning towards Paradejeania rutilioides, the Spiny Tachinid Fly. We fear that exact species identification is beyond our means as this generally requires a specialist, known as a Dipterist, and a physical specimen to examine. We are artists, not dipterists.

Related Posts

1. Tachinid Fly (July 8, 2008)
2. Unidentified Australian Tachinid Fly (January 22, 2007)
3. Tachinid Fly (August 17, 2008)
4. Veined Ctunecha 1000 miles off course, and Tachinid Fly (June 25, 2009)
5. Tachinid Fly: Uramya indita (August 4, 2009)