Subject:  fly wings be body
Geographic location of the bug:  Shade Gap, Pa
Date: 08/04/2018
Time: 04:53 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello,
I always pay attention to the insect world and the pictures I have I will send to you hoping you know. I have lived in the mountains for a long time and the bug I am seeing on flowers has fly wings but a bee body. This is the first year I am seeing these
How you want your letter signed:  Eric J Mazzi

Black Tachinid Flies on Goldenrod

Dear Eric,
This turned out to be a very easy identification for us.  We had a general ID upon looking at your image of parasitoid Tachinid Flies, a group of insects that are important pollinators as adults, and with larvae that parasitize various groups of insects and arthropods.  Tachinid Flies are very host specific.  Some species will only prey upon caterpillars from a single family, genus or even species, while others are just as picky about preying upon Spiders.  We quickly identified your Black Tachinid Flies as members of the genus Leschenaultia thanks to this BugGuide image, and according to BugGuide:  “recorded hosts include various Arctiidae, Malacosoma (Lasiocampidae), Hemileuca (Saturniidae), and some other moths.”  Your image is also the first we have posted this year of goldenrod, so we are tagging it as a Goldenrod Meadow posting.

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