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A Picture-winged fly from League City, Texas

Picture-Winged Fly (Delphinia picta); Mark Turvey, Humble, TX--3 Nov 2010

Several picture-winged flies native to North America are commonly confused with fruit flies. Were they comparable, in terms of biology and habitat, that would not bode well for the picture-winged flies, as fruit flies deposit their eggs in living, healthy plant tissue and their larvae live and feed on the host plant. By contrast, the larvae of most species of picture-winged flies (today classified under the family Ulidiidae) are saprophagic, that is, they feed on dead, decaying tissue… [...]

Natural Predators of the Puss Caterpillar or Asp – Sting Can Send You to ER Chairs; Bugs In The News

Puss caterpillars, larvae of the flannel moth (Megalopyge opercularis), are legendary for their potent stings. In fact, they are believed to have the stoutest, most painful venom known in the insect world. I’ve posted details about the puss caterpillar’s stinging apparatus on a separate page, but this page will discuss the natural predators of this caterpillar, and the extraordinary way these predators control it. [...]