Peleteria sp. #1, photographed at Spring Cave

Larvae are parasitoids of other insects, primarily larvae of Lepidoptera, sawflies, and beetles. Adult Tachinids feed on liquids such as nectar and the honeydew of aphids and scale insects. Over 1,300 species have been recorded in North America, making the tachinids the second largest family of Diptera on this continent.

Important morphological characters include a bristly body, especially on thoracic dorsum and 4th to 6th abdominal segments; postscutellum of mesothorax well developed, protruding posteriorly; pteropleural and hypopleural bristles present. Most tachinids are primary, solitary, endoparasitoids, but some are gregarious parasitoids. They have a wide host range, with all major groups of insects serving as hosts.

Many Tachinid fly larvae are important parasitoids of herbivorous insects. Over 100 different species have been used in successful biological control programs for Lepidoptera larvae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, and centipedes. Parasites of Lepidoptera caterpillars can be too effective if you're planning a butterfly garden, and silkworm ranchers consider tachinids pests, preying as they do on Bombyx mori caterpillars. [2] Of the insects that attack silkworm, the most important are the tachinids commonly known as ujiflies (or uziflies). There are at least four species of ujifly that attack silkworms viz., Japanese ujifly, Crossocosmia sericariae (Rondani); Hime ujifly, Ctenophorocera pavida (Meigen); Tasar ujifly, Blepharipa zebina (Walker) and the Indian ujifly, Exorista bombycis (Louis) [4].