Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Registration is open for the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2023

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events
TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Calyptratae » Oestroidea » Blow Flies (Calliphoridae) » Lucilia » Common Green Bottle Fly (Lucilia sericata)
Photo#155355
Fly dining on aphids? - Lucilia sericata
Copyright © 2007 Arthur Scott Macmillan

Fly dining on aphids? - Lucilia sericata
Sunnyvale, Santa Clara County, California, USA
October 4, 2007
This looks similar to another fly tentatively identified as a Green Bottle Blowfly in Family Calliphoridae, Genus Lucilia. I'm not sure what they eat, but it looks like this one is eating aphids.

Images of this individual: tag all
Fly dining on aphids? - Lucilia sericata Fly dining on aphids? - Lucilia sericata Fly dining on aphids? - Lucilia sericata - male
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by Arthur Scott Macmillan on 4 November, 2007 - 2:01pm
Last updated 10 December, 2017 - 5:00pm

Moved
Moved from Lucilia.
… John F. Carr, 10 December, 2017 - 5:00pm login or register to post comments

Not eating the aphids:-)
Aphids secrete a sweet, sugary waste product called "honeydew" in copius amounts, such that it literally rains down out of the host tree. This substance is craved by everything from flies to bees, wasps, beetles, even butterflies. So, 'that' is what this fly is lapping up here.
… Eric R. Eaton, 6 November, 2007 - 2:57pm login or register to post comments

 
I knew that ants did that but...
...I have been maybe a little preoccupied with the impression that every thing in the insect world seems to be in the act of either eating, or being eaton by some other insect!

In this case I would have been just as happy it it was eating the whole aphid!
… Arthur Scott Macmillan, 13 November, 2007 - 5:03am login or register to post comments

Lucilia looks right to me
Nice series, Mac.
… Ron Hemberger, 4 November, 2007 - 9:44pm login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact