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A Fly in Southeast Arizona
August 4, 2009
Hello,
I was wondering if you can Id this for me…it’s a colourful fly with patterned wings. They seemed not to be bothered at all when we get near them. They are congregating on our glass doors in our building this past month. They came and went and only stuck around for a few weeks. I think it could be some sort of Syrphid fly or a bee fly, but it’s just my guess. I’m more into beetles and butterflies. Please help! Thank you!
Izzy
Benson, Arizona

Tachinid Fry

Hi Izzy,
When flies are this hairy, it is a very good indication that they might be Tachinid Flies.  We browsed through the archives of BugGuide and identified your Tachinid Fly as Uramya indita, which has no common name.  There is no species information, nor genus information, but on the subfamily Dexiinae page, BugGuide indicates:  “Nearly all members of this subfamily are said to be parasitic on Coleoptera or Lepidoptera larvae.“ The Tachinidae family page of BugGuide indicates:  “Food  Larval stages are parasitoids of other insects. Almost every order of insects is attacked by tachinids, including a few types of non-insect arthropods. Some tachinids are very specific and others can parasitize a wide variety of hosts. The most common hosts are caterpillars.  Life Cycle  Most tachinids deposit their eggs directly on the body of their host, and it is not uncommon to see caterpillars with several tachinid eggs on them. Upon hatching the larva usually burrows into its host and feeds internally. When fully developed it leaves the host and pupates nearby. Some tachinids lay their eggs on foliage; the larvae are flattened and are called planidia; they remain on the foliage until they find a suitable host.”

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