spikey wings, green eyes, orange yellow body
Location: Central Wisconsin
August 13, 2010 7:37 pm
I must first say that I love this site and have forwarded yor website to numberous people. I have also identified numerous bugs from your site. The attached photos are blurry – I’m sorry – it was moving around and I couldn’t focus so if its too bad of a photo I am sorry. I live in central wisconsin and was taking pics of my monarch catipillars out in my yard when this strange bug appeared on the milkweed plant, BIG Green eyes, yellow body and spikey wings, I’ve searched and cannot find anything
Amy Hussin
Fruit Fly
Hi Amy,
This is a Fruit Fly in the family Tephritidae. The photo is too blurry to be certain, but we believe this might be Euaresta festiva, a species, BugGuide says whose: “larvae feed on a single species: Great Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida)” which should make it a friend of hay fever sufferers.
thank you SO much -
you all ROCK!
Deer Fly has crazy eyes!
Location: Fairfield, Maine USA
August 13, 2010 3:47 pm
Dear Bugman,
I got a close up of a Deer Fly resting on a plant. I never had looked at one for long enough to see their strikingly colored eyes. Usually whenever I see them they are bombarding my head! I wonder why this one was not attacking? Do they only go for mammal at certain times of their life?
Thank you,
James R
Deer Fly
Hi Again James,
We are ignoring some of our other submissions to post so many of your lovely photos, but it is also true that Deer Flies are not well represented on our site. We believe your Deer Fly is in the genus Chrysops. It is amusing that BugGuide posts instructions for 4 specific views that should be taken of each individual Deer Fly to ensure correct identification. Can you call the fly back to take some additional photos?
Thanks Daniel!
Unfortunately I have had no luck calling the fly back for another shoot. I will get more if I ever see
one again that is not attacking me.
Best wishes,
James
¶ Posted 13 August 2010 § ‡ ° Fly mimicking a wasp or a real wasp?
Location: Fairfield, Maine USA
August 13, 2010 3:18 pm
Dear Bugman,
I first thought this was some sort of Paper Wasp, but looking at the pictures I think it may be some sort of fly. It has interesting eyes with patterns in them…Can you identify this one?
Thank you,
James R
Flower Fly
Hi again James,
This is a Flower Fly or Hover Fly in the family Syrphidae. We are confident that based on images posted to BugGuide, we have identified it as Spilomyia sayi. We know that in the past, we misidentified one of your photos as a Syrphid Fly when it was a Thick Headed Fly, but this time we are relatively certain we are correct.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks a lot! That one sure had me fooled!
James
Flower Fly
¶ Posted 13 August 2010 § ‡ ° red footed cannibalfly
Location: southwest ohio
August 12, 2010 10:58 pm
i saw this last year and thanks to your website, and having it the bug of the month, i know what it is now! this was taken last week of august 2009.
BIBEF
Red Footed Cannibal Fly
Hi again BIBEF,
We are happy to hear you were able to identify your Red Footed Cannibal Fly thanks to our Bug of the Month posting. It appears to be eating a Bumble Bee.
What is this??
Location: tillsonburg, ON Canada
August 11, 2010 5:46 pm
We have noticed a couple of these very large creatures in our yard lately – they dont seem agressive but we have children and since they are about half the size of my thumb I wish they’d vacate 
They are very large bodied and are black with white spots…any idea what they are?? Strange looking overgrown deer/horse flies??
Curious in Canada
Tiger Bee Fly
Dear Curious in Canada,
The Tiger Bee Fly you have photographed is a harmless pollinator and you have nothing to fear from it.
Boy thats great to hear — never seen such a large fly!!
THANKS!!!
Mrs. Moy Harries
¶ Posted 12 August 2010 § ‡ ° What is it
Location: Jerome, AZ
August 10, 2010 8:07 am
I think this was summer time, Mingus Mtn, near Jerome, AZ.
Would like to know what to name this thing.
Charles
Tachinid Fly
Hi Charles,
This fly is a Tachinid Fly in the family Tachinidae. According to BugGuide: “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.“ BugGuide also indicates: “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.“ Finally, in terms of species identification BugGuide advises: “Bristle placements, facial conformation, and antennal shapes are helpful in identifying genera; images that show these features have a better chance of being identified.” Sadly, we do not feel confident taking this identification to the species level and believe that might require a dipterist who specialized in flies.
Species identification courtesy of Eric Eaton
Hi, Daniel:
Went through the site and found only a few minor corrections/clarifications, most recent to oldest:
Tachnid fly from Jerome, Arizona: Paradejeania rutilioides …
…Otherwise, either very good or “I can’t help with that:-)”
Is the book out for everybody yet? If so, I’ll link it to my blog, share on Facebook, etc. I did get the pre-order e-mail from you.
Eric
Thanks Eric,
The book will be available in October.
¶ Posted 10 August 2010 § ‡ ° Robber Fly
Location: Mayfield, KY
August 8, 2010 2:13 pm
I know I have identified my bug as a robber fly, but it is not the red footed one chosen for the month of August. I have a set of pictures I’d like to share of the robber fly I found on the bush near my house. In the second photo, I noticed a lot of tiny life. There is some kind of larvae near his one foot where he is hanging on the plant. There are oleander aphids visible also. I thought the pictures showed a lot of detail on the robber fly. He looks positively wicked!
Hope you enjoy them.
Janet Fox
Hanging Thief devours Honey Bee
Hi Janet,
This magnificent Robber Fly is a Hanging Thief in the genus Diogmites, and they are called Hanging Thieves because of their habit of hanging, often from a single leg, while consuming their prey. We found a photo on BugGuide that matches your specimen, but it is not identified to the species level. We hope our continued searching will provide a species name for your formidable predator. We thought that the abdominal markings might be an identifying feature, but browsing through the Diogmites species on BugGuide revealed too many possibilities that look similar for us to attempt a species classification.
Hanging Thief
Ed. Note: August 9, 2010
It is really impossible for our small staff to respond to all queries, and we were searching older letters for something, and we came across this email from Janet prior to the email above. We would like to remind our readership that if you do not get a response after a week, please resubmit your request with all relevant information and please reattach the image. DO NOT just send an email inquiring if we got your previous email because then we need to hunt through all unanswered mail. We apologize for our limitations.
Janet’s Original Request
Strange bug
Location: Mayfield, KY
July 31, 2010 8:27 pm
I have recently started on some nature photography. We have a bush next to our driveway that has a vine growing on it. I have found that the small white flowers on the vine is a host for many bugs. I was out there the other day and saw a very strange looking bug. It looked like a mutation of a dragonfly and a mosquito. I got a couple pictures of it, then focused on something else. Next time I looked for it, it was higher up the bush and had caught a honey bee. I watched as he stuck his needle nose into the neck area several times. Then he turned the bee around and stuck him in the hind end. Then he turned the bee around a couple more times, then stuck his straw nose into the back end to (I assume) drink his insides. I have looked up predatory insects and can not find this particular bug. Can you tell me what it is?
Sincerely, Janet Fox
Fly, Dragonfly, Bee Killer wasp?
Location: Bismarck, North Dakota
August 7, 2010 1:39 am
I took photos of this insect today. It originally flew around my flowering basil, mimicing the bees, going from flower to flower. Then I saw it grab a bumble bee, to eat it. I wrote about it on my blog today: http://sewartfullyminded.blogspot.com/2010/08/bee-fight-and-bee-killer.html
At first glance I wondered if it was a dragon fly because of the long tail, but it behaved differently. It is fuzzy like a bumble bee but has such huge eyes. I followed it taking photos. It didn’t seem to like that and tried to evade me. It landed on the grape leaf and as I continued to take photos it eventually retreated behind the leaf.
Doreen
Robber Fly eats Bee
Hi Doreen,
This adept predator is a Robber Fly in the family Asilidae, and we believe, due to its size, that it is in the subfamily Asilinae, but we haven’t the time to research the species at the moment. You may view some possibilities on BugGuide.
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