The ladybird fly is a tiny parasitic fly, about 1/4 in (5–6 mm) long, with a round orange abdomen and a row of dark spots that make it look a bit like a ladybug. Its larvae grow inside stink bugs and kill them. It lives across Europe and Asia and is not found in the United States.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A dark thorax (dusted with gold in males), yellow-brown wing bases, and a ball-shaped red or orange abdomen with dark markings down the middle.
- Flowers
- In Britain, adults visit open, shallow flowers such as hogweed, yarrow, and mayweeds.
Where it lives
- Range
- Europe and Asia, including Britain, Russia, Iran, China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. It does not occur in the US.
- Preferred conditions
- In Britain it is recorded mostly at warm, dry sites, and it has been found at many more places there since 1996.
Behavior
- Activity
- In Britain, adults fly from late April to early October, with most sightings in August.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- When fully grown, the larva leaves the bug to pupate, and the host dies within a day.
- Larva
- The female glues an egg onto a stink bug's back; the larva burrows inside and feeds there. Only one larva survives per bug.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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