Garden soldier fly
The garden soldier fly is black with a purple metallic shine. Behind its body it has four little spikes with yellow tips. It comes from Australia but has spread to gardens in many parts of the world.
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Fun facts
Its body and its larva are both flat.
It reached Hawaii in the 1890s and California in 1985.
In Europe it was first found in Italy and has since spread to France and the Black Sea coast.
The very first one described was found when Australia was still called New Holland.
Females are bigger than males.
Most asked questions about Garden soldier fly
?Is the garden soldier fly harmful?
No. It cannot bite or sting and is harmless to people.
?Where does the garden soldier fly come from?
From Australia. It has since spread to many other countries.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Exaireta spinigera
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Stratiomyidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Stratiomyidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania, North America, Europe
- Also known as
- Blue soldier fly
Where the facts come from
- Exaireta spinigera (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by John Tann from Sydney, Australia. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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