Exorista larvarum is a Palaearctic species of fly in the family Tachinidae.
Distribution Canada, United States, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, British Isles, Belarus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, North Korea, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, Egypt, Tunisia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, China, India, Taiwan.
Hosts Lepidoptera larvae, mainly Lymantriidae and Lasiocampidae. It attacks Lymantria dispar dispar.The Gypsy Moth: Research Toward Integrated Pest Management, United States Department of Agriculture, 1981 Studies have been conducted into its ability to successfully prey on Mythimna unipuncta"Reports from University of Lleida Add New Data to Research in Biological Controls.(Report)." Life Science Weekly. NewsRX. 2012. Subscription required. and Cydalima perspectalisMartini, Antonio; Di Vitantonia, Cinzia; Dindo, Maria Luisa. "Acceptance and suitability of the box tree moth Cydalima perspectalis as host for the tachinid parasitoid Exorista larvarum.". Bulletin of Insectology 72 (1): 150-160..
Parasitic nature It lays an egg on its host. The egg hatches and the larva penetrates the host. The host could escape this fate by molting before the egg hatches.
Artificial Diets For rearing Exorista larvarum in controlled conditions, inexpensive diets are preferable. MEYS contains liquid skimmed milk, chicken egg yolk, yeast extract and saccharose and HEYS contains veal homogenate, chicken egg yolk, yeast extract and saccharose.Chiappini, Elisabetta; Dindo, Maria Luisa; Negri, Ilaria; Sighinolfi, Luca. "In vitro rearing of Anagrus breviphragma (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg parasitoid of Cicadella viridis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), from second instar larva to adult on diets without insect components." European Journal of Entomology. Institute of Entomology Czech Academy of Sciences. 2004. Subscription required. Though many variations of the diet yield different results.MELLINI E. & CAMPADELLI G. 1995: Formulas for "inexpensive" artificial diets for the parasitoid Exorista larvarum (L.). Boll. Ist. Entomol. "Guida Grandi" Univ. Bologna 50: 95-106.https://www.bulletinofinsectology.org/pdfarticles/vol50-1996-095-106mellini.pdf Larvae have a tendency to wander, which can result in starvation, so reducing wander is important for maximizing yields.
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