About Mallophora ruficauda (Wiedemann, 1828)
Mallophora ruficauda is a fly that mimics bumblebees, meaning it looks very similar to a bumblebee. This species is large and covered in dense black setae (hair), with a yellow patch on its thorax. It has a pointed black abdomen with a spot of reddish hair at the tip. Its wings are smoky brown and produce a buzzing sound during flight, just like the wings of bees. The head is black, and the face is covered in white hairs; these white hairs also appear on the ventral side of the femora, tibia, and tarsus of the third pair of legs in male individuals. The third pair of legs is stronger and longer than the other two smaller pairs. Newly hatched larvae are very small, with an average length of 1.35 mm and average width of 0.32 mm. Their small size lets them disperse easily by wind after hatching. M. ruficauda is endemic to South and Central America, and it lives primarily in open grasslands and meadows, where it lays its eggs. The adult flies are most active during the day, especially on sunny, hot days in the summer, which falls between December and May in the Southern Hemisphere. Larvae feed exclusively on white grub hosts until they pupate and emerge as full-grown adults. Adult M. ruficauda are predatory, and feed on insects that live in the meadows they inhabit, primarily Hymenoptera, but also other insects including other members of Diptera.
