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Hello
the larva was hanging on a needle of the pinus and contracted its body from time to time. On the end sat the fly sometimes making movements similar to the larvas.
Can you tell me what fly that is?
Greetings Maja

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Hi,

Nice action photos. The larva is indeed Sphinx pinastri. The fly is more difficult, however... hairy eyes, narrow peristome and overall appearance give some ideas. First impression was Carcelia, but host doesn't match. I would put this in Winthemini, perhaps Winthemia cf. cruentata. A lateral shot with more details (eg. the last image zoomed bigger), should confirm this.

Jaakko

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I'm with Jaakko.
It is too red for Carcelia, so it must be Winthemia.
Manyspecies of Winthemia specialize in Sphingidae, so that is OK.
We'd really need bigger pics to give a proper ID.
I'd love to see the tibia 2, thorax in lateral view, and abdomen dorsally if possible.

Very interesting !

Theo

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last image bigger:

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more or less dorsal - the best I have:

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maybe there is somthing you can see on this picture:

Thank you very much for helping and explaining!
Maja

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In the last pic, you can see the 5 typical bristles on humerus, so Winthemia it is.
The tibiae are black, so it is no bohemani
All hairs behind occipital row are white, that eliminates variegata.
The dark vittae on thorax are narrow, that gets ride of quadripustulata.
With some reservation, tergite 5 is shorter than tergite 4

Ergo: cruentata !

Host fits.

Congratulations (rare species)


Theo
It doesn't look like speciosa or venusta (those are more orange.
So that leaves us with either rufiventris or cruentata, very similar species.

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W. cruentata was recently discovered new to Finland. I have a pair reared from Sphinx ligustri. Might be a recent arrival, since I've been rearing around 70 ligustri larvae without any parasitoids. However, I've heard from several lepidopterists that they have encountered tachinids from ligustri in more Southern parts of the country than I live. Might be easy to find by rearing hosts, more difficult to spot on open grounds.

I especially enjoy photos showing behavior on the field, very nice!

Jaakko

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Yes, according to Tschorsnig & Herting cruentata is seldomly found in the field, most records are reared flies.
As is true for many more specialists of Sphingidae

Theo

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Wow - great observations - worthy of the gallery :)

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Wow, fine, I was lucky! These pictures were a byproduct of my gardening. But after I learned so much about it, I'll be more attentive and more careful taking the right pictures. Thank you for all the comments! If ever possible I will show you more.