Leucophora

External morphology is highly conserved across species, making visual identification difficult; male and female genital structures provide crucial diagnostic characters for species-level determination. Some species, such as Leucophora obtusa, are distinguished by unusually dense long erect hairs on abdominal sternites and scutellum margins compared to congeners.

Found in proximity to nests of host bees and wasps; collected from deciduous woodland environments where solitary bees nest.

Worldwide distribution except Oceania; recorded from Japan, Europe, North America, and South America (16 species recognized from Argentina alone).

• bees - kleptoparasitefemales shadow host bees to locate nest entrances for oviposition
• solitary wasps - kleptoparasiteassociated with nests
• Andrena bees - parasitoidlarvae parasitize host brood; specific to L. obtusa and related species

Larvae develop as parasitoids within host brood cells. Females oviposit in the tumulus at nest entrances of host bees.

Adult females exhibit 'satellite' behavior: hovering or 'orbiting' around host nests, and actively shadowing host bees back to their burrows to locate nest entrances for egg-laying.

Parasitoid of solitary bee and wasp larvae; population regulator of host species.

• other AnthomyiidaeLeucophora species are distinguished by kleptoparasitic behavior and association with hymenopteran nests; most anthomyiids are not parasitic and lack the 'satellite fly' behavioral syndrome

• kleptoparasite
• parasitoid
• Hymenoptera associate
• morphologically cryptic
• genome sequenced

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
• Revision of the genus Leucophora (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) from South America, with the description of eight new species
• The genome sequence of a satellite fly, Leucophora obtusa (Zetterstedt, 1837).