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Hello,

This one is from last summer, near Heerlen.

Thanks in advance,

Ben

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It is a tachinid alright, but I leave it to someone more knowledgable to put a name to it.

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Dear Ben,

Your Tachinid seems to be Leskia aurea.
The picture is possibly somewhat misleading: there is a suggestion of a black median vitta on the abdomen, expect that it is not median !
So, I premuse the abdomen actually is quite yellow and the black colouration is an artifact of the flashlight.
Otherwise, the picture is quite consistent with Leskia aurea, which is quite rare actually, mostly found in August. The biology is special: the species attacks caterpillars of Sesiidae, and since those live IN wood, the Tachinid larva needs to enter the treetrunk first before it can meet its host.

Theo Zeegers

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Hello Theo,

Many thanks for your explanation, it's very similar to my experiences with the animal. I didn't see such a fly until August, then a saw some several times (on Heracleum) and after a few weeks they seemed to have disappeared.
Here is another picture of it, without flash.

Ben

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Hi Ben,


Same species, Leskia aurea indeed, but a different specimen.
The first one was a female, this seems to be a male.

I'm surprised to read that they are not uncommon around Heerlen, but they definitely are fond of Heracleum, so that sounds familiar again.
Congratulations.

Theo