Yellow Mystery Fly and Spiny Oak Slug
Location: Kirksville, MO
August 30, 2011 12:49 pm
Hi again,
I’m fortunate enough to have a rather nice restored tallgrass prairie a short drive away from my apartment. There is a plethora of fascinating bugs there, most of which can be identified outright, or with a little researching. I have to admit, though, this fly has me absolutely stumped. I’m not sure if this helps, but it was resting on some ironweed when I snapped the photo.
I was rather happy, however, that thanks to your site I was able to quickly identify the spiny oak slugs that had taken up residence on a white oak at work. It seems like every time I walk by that tree I see more of them (and look, but don’t touch).
PS – The tick bites are still itching. If I had known it was going to be this bad, I would have bought stock in the producers of hydrocortisone!
Signature: EB
Dear EB,
Thanks to BugGuide, we were able to identify your Fruit Fly as Icterica seriata, and the only information BugGuide includes on the information page is: “Larvae feed in the flowerheads of Bidens species.” The ironweed your individual was resting on is not the Bidens mentioned as a larval food. We did find this nice profile of Bidens frondosa on the Missouri Plants website.
Ah, thank you! ‘Fruit fly’ had briefly crossed my mind, but the color really threw me for a loop – this isn’t the strange, pale creature we always toyed with in Genetics. As for the Bidens, the prairie is bordered by a restored woodland with a -lot- of that to spare, so that at least explains the fly’s presence in the general area.
Thanks so much for the update.