Feather-legged fly
The feather-legged fly is a bright fly with a velvety black head and an orange tummy. Its back legs have a fringe of flat hairs that look like little feathers. It helps farmers, because its babies get rid of stink bugs that harm crops.
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Fun facts
The mother lays tiny eggs on big stink bugs and squash bugs.
When the eggs hatch, the larvae dig into the bug. If several get in, only one survives.
Stink bugs make a smelly juice that keeps birds away, but it does not bother this fly at all.
Farmers use it to help control pests, and in some places it finds most of the stink bugs.
It is about the size of a large housefly.
Most asked questions about Feather-legged fly
?Is the feather-legged fly good for gardens?
Yes. Its larvae grow inside stink bugs and squash bugs, which helps protect crops.
?Why is it called feather-legged?
Its back legs have a fringe of flat hairs that look like small feathers.
?Does the feather-legged fly bite?
No. It is harmless to people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Trichopoda pennipes
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Tachinidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Tachinidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America, Australia and Oceania, Europe
Where the facts come from
- Trichopoda pennipes (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 Stetocefalo. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same 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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