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I just came across this fly in my compost bin, I suspect it to be a BSF that would have hatched. Can anyone please confirm it.

Some Random fly

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Krishna P S
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1 Answers1

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According to our resident expert, who manages several black soldier fly colonies, this is, indeed, a black soldier fly.

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From the University of Florida Entomology & Nematology dept:

Adults: Members of the soldier fly family Stratiomyidae can range in color from yellow, green, black or blue, with some having a metallic appearance. Many are mimics of other flying insects, such as bees and wasps. Black soldier fly adults have a wasp-like appearance and are black or blue in color. Soldier flies also have two translucent "windows" located on the first abdominal segment. Adults range from 15 to 20 mm in length. (Sheppard et al. 2002). The adult's antennae are elongated with three segments, and legs have white coloration near the end of each leg.

That Idiot
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  • Is it a goodie or a baddie? – olantigh Aug 21 '17 at 12:41
  • As a composter of garden waste, it is a goodie. A colony of black soldier fly larvae is highly effective at processing such waste. I am not sure if the larvae would be a baddie if there weren't "rotting" vegetable material to eat or not. – That Idiot Aug 21 '17 at 23:03