Description
Tachinid flies are similar in shape and size to houseflies (usually less than 1 cm (½”) in length), but they usually project a few stiff hairs backwards, over and slightly beyond the abdomen. Most of them are considered rather drab in colour.
Effects
Tachinids parasitize other insects. They may glue their eggs to their host or lay their eggs on foliage where the host larvae will eat them. Some have ovipositors with which they inject their eggs directly into the unsuspecting host’s body. They help control garden pests such as gypsy moths, cabbage loopers, Japanese beetles, armyworms, cutworms, sawflies, codling moths, peach twig borers, pink bollworms, tent caterpillars, squash bugs and many more.
Management
Adult flies feed on nectar, so you can attract them to your garden by growing plants with umbel-type flowers, including carrots, cilantro, dill, coriander, buckwheat and sweet clover.