Trichopoda pennipes are Parasitic flies belonging to the family Tachinidae.
Body length: 10mm to 12mm. The female lacks the ferruginous (rusty coloured) markings on the wings, which are prominent on the wings of the male.
Flight season: May to September.
Habitat...Grasslands and gardens. Introduced accidently from Rome to Southern Europe in 1988.
Trichopoda pennipes are often seen with wings outstretched when searching for nectar.
The female fly can be seen hovering over plants as she searches, mainly searching for large bugs to lay several small, pale-coloured oval eggs on. Species such as: Leptoglossus occidenttalis Largidae, Scutelleridae and Nezara virdula (Stink Bugs) are favoured.
When the eggs hatch on the surface they burrow into the bug. Out of several, only one larva will survive inside the bug. When finished feeding on the bug’s body tissues, the cream coloured larva bores out of the bug and enters the ground to pupate. The bug meanwhile dies. About two weeks an adult fly emerges from the pupa.
Main purpose in life at this stage is to find a mate, after mating a female fly may lay several hundred eggs in her total life. Up to three generations of flies are produced each year. The parasitoid overwinters as a second instar larva, as it overwinters inside a bug’s body.
Trichopoda pennipes are used against the southern green stink bug Nezara Viridula which is a major crop pest, as it seems that many birds are put off by the bug’s odour, but is tolerated by Trichopoda pennipes.