Fruit Bites April 28-30

BL: Welcome back to another “Fruit Bites” brought to you by Valent U.S.A. With us again is Valent’s Allison Walston. And this week Allison, let’s talk about a new insect pest in the PNW?

AW: It’s called the Houdini fly and it kills mason bees by kleptoparasitism

BL: So, “klepto” like a shoplifter or somebody stealing from me?

AW: pretty much parasitism by theft! The Houdini fly female sneaks into the mason bee house, lays it eggs on the pollen meant to feed the mason bee larvae. Then the fly eggs hatch, into maggots, which eat all the food before the mason bee larvae can

which causes them to starve.

BL: So, for those of us who may have a mason bee house, what sort of steps can we take to try and prevent this?

AW: Use nesting materials that are easy to open & inspect for maggots before spring. For more info on the Houdini fly, check out the WSDA website.

BL: Well, thanks Allison. Join us again next time for Fruit Bites, brought to you by Valent. Until then, I’m Bob Larson.

https://cms.agr.wa.gov/WSDAKentico/Documents/PP/PestProgram/PestAlert-HoudiniFlyFeb2020.pdf