Several days ago, I wrote about a favorite insect—and a useful one, at that—known as the Feather-legged Fly. We have a second species in our area, and here it is: the orange-abdomened dipteran that entomologists called Trichopoda pennipes. Like our other species, which is dark winged and dark bellied, TP is an effective parasite that helps control populations of squash and stink bugs, which can be terrible pests. Interestingly, there's a range of sexual dimorphism in this species, with males having entirely orange abdomens and eyes that are fairly close together, a condition—for the eyes, that is—referred to as holoptic. In the females, there's usually a black mark at the end of the abdomen, and the eyes are dichoptic, that is, widely separated. It's typically a reliable field mark, and, perhaps, a way for females like this one to keep better tabs on the guys.