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Trichopoda sp.
Trichopoda is a genus of tachinid flies, commonly known as the feather-legged flies or hairy-legged flies. The name comes from Greek, Tricho meaning hair and poda meaning foot. They are small, brightly-colored flies that congregate on flowers, feeding on nectar. The vestigial hind wings are covered with yellow scales and there is a fringe of hairs on the hind legs. The larvae are parasitoids of true bugs in the order Hemiptera, including stink bugs and squash bugs in the family Pentatomidae and leaf-footed bugs in the family Coreidae. They are found in North and South America. (information from Wikipedia)
Garden in a City park
These flies are sexually dimorphic. The males have orange abdomens and the females have dark abdomens. (information from BugGuide)
Spotted on Oct 28, 2013
Submitted on Oct 29, 2013
2 Comments
Thanks, Luis. I see these sporadically. They can sometimes be tricky to catch up with, but this one was thankfully accommodating and slow to move around the flowers.
Great find Aaron! I've never seen one.