Lypha dubia

Description

This fly has an overall brassy look with a chequered abdomen with light and dark grey with some brown.

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)
  • arista bare
  • eyes hairy
  • parafacial bristles extend down to about a third of the antennae
  • abdomen with grey patches
  • scutellum with 4 pairs of marginal bristles - the apical pair are crossed
  • abdominal segment 1 without median discal bristles
  • abdominal segments 3+4 with median discal bristles
  • no orange on the scutellum
  • hind thoracic spiracle with two equal-sized flaps
  • a long pteropleural bristle
Habitat

Woodland - often seen on tree trunks and foliage.

When to see it

April to June.

Life History

One generation per year. The larvae parasitise Winter Moths and moths from the family Tortricidae.

UK Status

Fairly frequent and widespread in the southern half of Britain at least.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Species profile

Species group:
Flies
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Diptera
Family:
Tachinidae
Records on NatureSpot:
3
First record:
12/04/2011 (Gould, David)
Last record:
04/04/2023 (Nicholls, David)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.

In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.

Latest images

Latest records