Integrated Pest Management Guide

TACHINID FLIES (DIPTERA: TACHINIDAE)

Tachinid flies are a very large family of active flies whose stocky bodies are covered with bristles. They vary in size from 3 - 14 mm (1/8 - 9/16 inch) and resemble bees or house flies. Adults fly from late spring until early fall and are among the most important parasitic insects. Tachinid flies feed on nectar and secretions of aphids, scale insects and leafhoppers, while larvae are internal parasites of a variety of insects. Live young or up to two eggs are deposited on or near a suitable host. Hosts maybe the larvae of moths, butterflies, sawflies, or beetles, or the adults of true bugs and grasshoppers. Tachinid larvae penetrate the host and feed on its internal organs until ready to pupate in the soil. The host almost always dies from the parasitism. Some tachinid species specialize in a certain host such as leaf-rolling caterpillars, while others prefer cutworms or winter moths. The tachinid Winthemia quadripustulata (Fab.) is known to parasitize zebra caterpillars. The tachinid Hemisturmia tortricis (Coq.) has been reared from larvae of the blackheaded fireworm.
 

Tachinid fly

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