Tachinid Flies

Additional Insect Information Type of Flies Types of Insects

Parasitism, a reproductive strategy not typically associated with flies, serves as a key trait uniting the large and diverse fly family Tachinidae, better known as Tachinid flies.

With a world wide distribution of some ten thousand species, the tachinids have been loosely organized according to common parasitic strategies along with common physical traits.

For example, the smallest subfamily of Tachinidae, the Phasiinae, usually get classified as the least hairy tachinids that parasitize true bugs (order Heteroptera).

As a rule of thumb, the more hairy and more colorful species, such as the species in the top picture, often, but not always, fit into the Tachininae subfamily.

Entomologists generally converge on the idea that most Tachininae species, along with other tachinids, adopt a parasitic reproductive strategy that targets members of the Lepidoptera order, butterflies and moths, as the host for their larvae.

Furthermore, because so many moth larvae are classified as agricultural pests, tachinids that parasitize them often get classified as beneficial insects. The use of tachinid flies to control gypsy moth infestations of forests serves as one of the most prominent examples of their use as biological control agents.

The proven and potential utility of Tachinidae gives them a prominent place in present and future entomological research.

© 2006-2009 Patricia A. Michaels