- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Published on: September 21, 2011
If you see a black fly or its eggs and larvae while you're turning over your compost pile, don't be alarmed.
It's probably a "good soldier."
The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) is a beneficial insect. And a far-ranging one at that.
Martin Hauser, senior insect biosytemastist at the Plant Pest Diagnostics Branch, California Department of Food and Agriculture, says this is the only Hermetia he can find in the Sacramento region. "If you go south and to Arizona and New Mexico, you'll find more species, which are more colorful."
This New World species, he says, is now worldwide. "I found it in Nepal, Borneo, Australia,...
Tags: black soldier fly (1), California Department of Food and Agriculture (1), Hermetia illucens (1), Martin Hauser (1)
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