The Bugs in the Backyard: Fly

I think a lot of people who say they hate bugs would probably admit, if you asked them about specific kinds of bugs, that they don't really hate all bugs. I think most people like butterflies (except for one friend of mine who considers them just okay, tolerable, basically, but doesn't really get what people see in them). Maybe lady beetles, because they are portrayed in a lot of places as cute and charismatic. Fireflies, but maybe because in most cases when people see them all they see is the enchanting light, they don't actually see the bug. But I don't think there are many people, even among people who don't hate bugs, who really like flies. At best, they are generally thought of as annoying. They are widely viewed as filthy, and vectors of disease, which I think some are, but certainly not all of them. Their tendency to be found on gross things we'd rather not look at is certainly not in their favor.

Now, I am not going to say I love flies, but I do think that some of them are pretty cool. They're not all feeding from the garbage can. A lot of them feed on flowers, and are pollinators. Some of them act as biological controls of caterpillars, which have charming characteristics, to be sure, but as we know from gypsy moth caterpillars, having too many of them around is devastating. So it is a good thing that there are flies who help keep those populations in check. Many flies are beneficial insects. And some of them are interesting to watch. Like today's Backyard Bug of the Day:

Just kidding. I mean, this is the Backyard Bug of the Day, but I have better pictures of it than this. I wanted to post this, though, to show that this fly looks a bit like a bumblebee. It's about the size of a bumblebee, and it moves a bit like a bumblebee.

But it's definitely a fly. I am pretty sure that this is a species of tachinid fly, a family of flies that are parasitoids. They lay their eggs on other insects, and their larvae... well, let's just say that they are not gracious guests to their hosts. But like I said, biological controls are important to keep a balance in an ecosystem. There are plenty of things that would be happy to eat this fly, too.

You would think that a fly this distinctive would be easy to identify from my bug books, and you would be wrong. So all I can say, with almost complete confidence, is that this is a tachinid fly.

And while we're on the subject of flies...

This is a fly, too. A thick-headed fly, even though it looks like a wasp. Also a parasitoid insect, specifically on bumblebees. The adults feed on flower nectar. I like that they look like they are dancing when they walk around on flowers.

Other Bugs:

Katydid

I think it was last week the Backyard Bug of the Day was a moth that had just eclosed. The next day the moth was in the same place, on the plant where it had eclosed, and had found a mate. After they were gone the next day, I looked for eggs on the plant, figuring that was where the moth would lay them, but didn't see any. I think I just didn't look hard enough, because now there are most definitely eggs there. Now, if there had been eggs this color, I would have seen them, but I think they were probably green, and blended in with the plant, and the red color is a color change. Which means they are probably about to hatch. I'll check them tomorrow to see.

Eastern tiger swallowtails have false eyes on their backs, and look like they have a huge head, but in reality they have a normal, small head underneath all that which I have rarely ever seen while looking at one.

Grasshopper

Green stinkbug

Wasp

Sharpshooter

Leaf-footed bug

Tree cricket

Moth

I saw a cricket like this last week when there were Orthoptera all over, and was a bit confused by it, because I had never seen a cricket that looks like this, and it kind of looked like it had broken wings, so it was hard to tell what it really looked like at all. But now I see it I realize it's just a new species for me. It would be Backyard Bug of the Day if I had a better picture. It actually flew, which is something I don't think I have ever seen a cricket do before.