Colorful fly
January 31, 2010
Hi,
I spent a while trying to get a good shot of this fly that was warming itself in Costa Rica. Any idea what it is? It was about twice the size of a common housefly.
Thanks,
Miles
Santa Elena cloud forest, Costa Rica
Hi Miles,
As we said in a previously email to you, often exact species identification of tropical species is quite difficult with online resources, and an expert in the family would be necessary. With that said, we are relatively certain that this is a Tachinid Fly in the family Tachinidae. Tachinid Flies are internal parasites whose hosts are a variety of insects and other arthropods. Caterpillars are the most common hosts.