There's a new fly in town.

While out for a run yesterday, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ, I noticed this unusual orange-headed black fly. I uploaded my photos to #iNaturalist when I got home and learned that it's the Australian Soldier Fly, *Inopus rubriceps*. This looks to be the first record of it anywhere in the South Island south of Nelson.

The species is a minor pasture pest and is well-established in NZ's North Island, where it was first seen in 1944.

As the world warms, NZ continues to fill with Australian insects. They first establish in the North Island then spread southwards. The pattern is repeating over and over. In this case, the two Australian parasitoid wasps (Neurogalesus spp.) that feed on *Inopus rubriceps* have also already established in the North Island.

*Inopus rubriceps* is a distinctive fly, especially the female which has the orange head (the male is all black). Keep an eye out and you might find some more of them.

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/347771177

#Diptera #entomology #iNaturalistNZ #invasionBiology #insects #nz #Christchurch #fly