Tachina Grossa

[George Hogg]

Watched a tachina grossa today on bramble flowers,behaving very aggressively towards any other insects flying past.
I know the grubs are parasites on moth grubs but don't know much about the feeding habits of the adults?....george

[Geoff F]

There is quite a bit of information on all Tachinid species at the official recording scheme site.

Tachinid Recording Scheme: Home

I am finding this to be a good year for T. grossa and I'm finding one or two most days at a couple of sites.

[Matt Smith]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

There is quite a bit of information on all Tachinid species at the official recording scheme site.

Tachinid Recording Scheme: Home

I am finding this to be a good year for T. grossa and I'm finding one or two most days at a couple of sites.

Any and all records for Tachina grossa or any other Tachinid will be gratefully received and added to the Tachinid Recording Scheme database. Even records from the same site on multiple dates are useful as they help build up a picture of the flight periods of the adults.

Most adult Tachinids feed on nectar from flowers.

Thanks

Matt

[George Hogg]

Many Thanks Guys,,,Are they known to be as aggressive to passing bees and other flying insects or was mine just a narky one?....g

[Geoff F]

I found another 2 today. Details are being saved, Matt, I'm just waiting for a couple of wet days to sort out all my 'paperwork'.

Can't say that I have seen any being particularly aggressive but I suppose that being so much larger and heavier than anything else they are going to 'push to the front of the nectar queue'.

[George Hogg]

Also meant to say I watched and photographed the insect in S.E. Scotland.

Am I right in thinking Tachina Grossa is rare up here?

I see the dist map ( via above link ) only shows two or three records.

Is this up to date?

[Matt Smith]

Originally Posted by George Hogg

Also meant to say I watched and photographed the insect in S.E. Scotland.

Am I right in thinking Tachina Grossa is rare up here?

I see the dist map ( via above link ) only shows two or three records.

Is this up to date?

The TRS map is as up to date as I can make it with the data I have. The NBN map has a lot more dots from Scotland, mostly due to a nice set of records from the HBRG. These will eventually get added into the TRS database.

I doubt Tachina grossa is really rare in Scotland, whats lacking are people recording it. Now is your chance to cover Scotland in dots if you send me your record data...