Identification
Thorax yellowish to brown with black patterns, abdomen yellowish to amber. Eyes reddish. Wings smoky black, yellowish near body and margin transparent. Hind legs are hairy.
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Bright orange abdomen, velvety black head and thorax, and a fringe of short black hairs on the hind legs. The wings of male flies have a dark spot. The tip of the abdomen of female flies is black.
Food
Adults feed on nectar, larvae are internal parasites of true bugs.
Life Cycle
Adult female lays one to several eggs on a hemipteran host. The larvae hatch from the eggs and burrow directly into the bug's body, though only one larva will survive within each host. The larva feeds on the host internally and eventually a large cream-colored maggot exits from body of the bug (which soon dies). The maggot pupates in a dark reddish-brown puparium in the soil and emerges as an adult about two weeks later. There are up to three generations a year depending on location, and larvae may overwinter in the bodies of overwintering hosts.
Remarks
Often used as biological control of hemipteran pest species such as squash bugs, stink bugs, and plant bugs.
May hover above squash plants in search of prey.
According to Paul Beuk it has been "introduced into Europe and is now frequently spotted in the south. Its exotic appearance has dumbfounded many a European entomologist."
See Also
T. indivisa: 9-11mm. Reddish brown. Eyes brown. abdomen with patches of yellow. Wings brown. SW US. Photo in Arnett and Jacques.
(2) Print References
Milne, plate 438 and p. 691
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