Oh, to go through life being called a "short fat fly."
Such is the case with a specific tachinid fly (family Tachinidae, genus Gymnosoma), which we spotted on a coreopsis (aka tickseed) growing along a Fort Bragg cliff.
It's an odd-looking fly. Its abdomen resembles a ladybug or lady beetle. Its head--definitely a fly. (Gymno is Greek for naked, and soma means body.)
"Its larvae are parasites on stink bugs," said native polliantor specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis.
Check out another image on bugguide.net.
Well, it's good that this ladybug mimic rids the world of a few more stink bugs!
