Subject: Bee Fly?
Location: Northern Arizona, Flagstaff
September 10, 2013 8:27 pm
Hi Bugman,
I photographed a rather large two winged fly on my Butterfly Bush in Flagstaff Az.
This is the high desert, 7, 000 feet above sea level.
Low humidity, day time highs around 70,
50 at night.
We get snow in the winter months.
The abdomen is bright orange in color and rather stunning.
They have large fly eyes unlike bees.
Thanks,
R.A in Flagstaff
Signature: R.A.
Dear R.A.,
This is a Tachinid Fly, an important family of parasitoid insects. We posted a similar looking Tachinid Fly from the mountains of New Mexico that we featured as a Bug of the Month and tentatively identified as Adejeania vexatrix.
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination