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Photo#203201
Eremnophila aureonotata - female

Eremnophila aureonotata - Female
Parkwood, Durham County, North Carolina, USA
June 28, 2008
Size: 28 mm
A satellite fly, Miltogramminae, hovered nearby. It backed off when the wasp seemed to make aggressive moves. Then it perched nearby, approached the burrow once (after the wasp departed), perched nearby again, and departed. The satellite fly looks very much like this one:

that Herschel Raney observed associated with the closely-related Ammophila.

Images of this individual: tag all
Eremnophila aureonotata - female Eremnophila aureonotata - female Satellite Fly (Senotainia?) associated with Eremnophila - female

Fantastic shots, Fascinating Natural History!
It's amazing enough that you got such good "in flight" focus/resolution with the satellite fly outside of a studio...to also get the Eremnophila in focus is a marvel.

And great to tie in the interesting image of the paralyzed caterpillar prey being carried off by the wasp AND the fly's role as a both an opportunistic kleptoparasite of the wasp and a parasitoid of the caterpillar. And it's just the tip of the iceberg...the insect world is amazing :-)

Many thanks for posting these and presenting the details and links on the Miltogrammine connection.

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