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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Unidentified Immature Stages
Photo#143466
Carpenter Bees plus ?
Copyright © 2007 billie10011

Carpenter Bees plus ?
Butte County, California, USA
September 1, 2007
Previously I had a dead carpenter bee in a zip lock bag on my desk when about a week later I noticed a live insect inside trying to strengthen it's wings much like a butterfly does after it mutates. It looked like a thick-headed fly from my books which it said lays its eggs in other insects. When I found these bees dead on the ground and again put them in a baggy I noticed these 4 egg-like casings several days later. I was wondering if these are what will again evolve into the thick-headed flies? I like seeing the carpenter bees around here and am wondering if they are dying naturally or if a parasite is starting to wipe them out?
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Contributed by billie10011 on 6 September, 2007 - 6:13am
Last updated 22 May, 2017 - 1:21am

Moved
Moved from Flies.
… v belov, 10 April, 2009 - 5:06pm login or register to post comments

Fly pupae.
The oval objects in this image are fly pupae of some kind. My bet would be scuttle flies (family Phoridae). Phorids will quickly oviposit on freshly-dead insects. I just discovered some beneath a big beetle I had drying on a board....The adult fly in the image is not readily identifiable. Any chance you could get more images with more detail?
… Eric R. Eaton, 6 September, 2007 - 1:41pm login or register to post comments

 
ID
The fly looks like Hermetia illucens (Stratiomyiidae).
… Andy Calderwood, 25 May, 2008 - 8:04pm login or register to post comments

 
Norm Woodley thought Hermetia illucens too
...see his comment under companion post below:

 

And I like Eric's suggestion of phorids for the pupal cases in the photo at the top of the page. The pupal case of a thick-headed fly would remain within the body of the host bee.

Billie made a companion post of a very recently emerged conopid from a bee in another zip lock bag that he'd apparently collected separately from the ones here...see thumbnail below:

 
… Aaron Schusteff, 22 October, 2019 - 3:11pm login or register to post comments

 
Norm Woodley thought Hermetia illucens too
...see his comment under companion post below:

 

And I like Eric's suggestion of phorids for the pupal cases in the photo at the top of the page. The pupal case of a thick-headed fly would remain within the body of the host bee, and likely be larger than those in the photo.

Billie made a companion post of a very recently emerged conopid from a bee in another zip lock baggie that he'd apparently collected separately from the ones here...see thumbnail below:

 
… Aaron Schusteff, 22 October, 2019 - 2:35pm login or register to post comments

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