Subject: What is this bug?
Location: Palm Desert, CA 92260
October 15, 2015 10:45 pm
Is this bug harmful to my plants? Is it beneficial ( like ladybugs)? Thank you.
Signature: Erik
Dear Erik
We are confident that we have correctly identified your Stilt Legged Fly, Micropeza stigmatica, based on images posted to BugGuide. There is no food preference listed on the information page for the species, but we suspect this is a predator. If we go to the family page on BugGuide, it states: “Adults of some species are attracted to rotting fruit or dung; in other species adults are predaceous; larvae saprophagous” meaning the larvae feed on decaying organic matter.
Very interesting.