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The California Backyard Orchard
Posts Tagged: Scathophaga stercoraria
A Face Only a Mother Could Love?
So there we were, on Mother's Day, looking at the yet-to-bloom English lavender in our yard. And...
A golden dung fly, Scathophaga stercoraria, perched on lavender, stares at the photographer on Mother's Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This golden dung fly, dead, was found on lavender next to live flies. Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, looked at its swollen belly and said it died "from entomophagous fungus--perhaps the same one that 'glues' houseflies to window panes."(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)