Finally, I got a clear photo of this enormous Spiny Tachina Fly - species Paradejeania rutiloides, family Tachinidae, order Diptera! (Paradise, Santa Ynez River, 1 November 2011)
Well, it SEEMS enormous because after all it's just a fly. It's about 3/4 inch (18 mm) long, bumblebee size. I found this one working the late flowers of native composite Scale Broom (Lepidospartum squamatum) shrub by the river today. These impressive flies have been scarce this year.
It seems like the ancient "doctrine of signatures" - these bristly flies are apparently predators of the bristly local "woolly bear" caterpillars of tiger moths in the family Arctiidae. See my [Next] photo tomorrow.
Today's photos are all interesting flies.
On November 01 2011 37 Views
Mykologos
MYKOLOGOS is a group site for photos of mushrooms, fungi, molds, lichens, slime molds, bacterial mats, algae - all those non-flowering plants that don`t follow the usual rules. I figure ferns are marginal unless they show their sporangia.
Nature
Photos of flowers, plants, bugs, animals, birds, landscape, geology or whatever nature gives you room to breathe. Please be as informative or descriptive as you can about what a plant, animal or rock is. To me, education about nature is a strong part of knowing nature.
![Spiny Tachina Fly - Paradejeania rutiloides (Tachinidae,Diptera) - Finally, I got a clear photo of this enormous [b]Spiny Tachina Fly[/b] - species [i]Paradejeania rutiloides[/i], family [i]Tachinidae[/i], order [i]Diptera[/i]! (Paradise, Santa Ynez River, 1 November 2011) Well, it SEEMS enormous because after all it's just a fly. It's about 3/4 inch (18 mm) long, bumblebee size. I found this one working the late flowers of native composite [b]Scale Broom[/b] ([i]Lepidospartum squamatum[/i]) shrub by the river today. These impressive flies have been scarce this year. It seems like the ancient "doctrine of signatures" - these bristly flies are apparently predators of the bristly local "woolly bear" caterpillars of tiger moths in the family [i]Arctiidae[/i]. See my [Next] photo tomorrow. Today's photos are all interesting flies. - Fotolog](http://sp2.fotolog.com/photo/34/26/39/treebeard/1320205093973_f.jpg)
