© 2026 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
SC Public Radio's statewide network is experiencing intermittent outages and programming issues due to ongoing infrastructure upgrades. Our team is working to keep these disruptions to a minimum and to resolve issues that do arise. Streaming on this site, the SCETV App, the NPR App, and smart speakers is unaffected.

Mydas Flies

Jean and Fred
/
Flickr

Commonly known as Mydas flies, the Mydidae (sometimes misspelled as Mydaidae) are a cosmopolitan family of flies. It is a small family, with about 471 species described. They are generally large in size, including the largest known fly, Gauromydas heros (syn. Mydas heros). Many of the species, in addition to their large size, are mimics of stinging hymenopterans, especially wasps. Most mydids are found in arid and semiarid regions of the world, but they are also found in other habitats.

Stay Connected