Tachinid Recording Scheme

Project: Housing the collection

2009 OPAL grant awarded: £2,000

With an ever-expanding reference collection the Tachinid Recording Scheme was in great need of a safe and secure place to store its specimens.

After applying to the 2009 OPAL Grants Scheme, it was awarded with £2,000 to pay for new cabinets, drawers and unit trays to house the collection.

The UK Tachinid Recording Scheme was formed by amateur entomologist Chris Raper and fellow entomologist Matt Smith. One of the scheme’s primary aims is to gather sightings of tachinids across the UK into a central database.

Being an amateur with a recording scheme in its infancy, Chris needed to find a larger society to support his application. This support came from the Amateur Entomologists Society - Chris has been a member of the society since childhood.

Chris regularly writes a blog, and has even detailed his application in one of his posts.

So what are tachinids?
Tachinids are a type of fly, often referred to as ‘parasitic flies’ because their larvae feed on the body tissues of immature or adult invertebrates. However, they are actually parasitoids because, unlike parasites such as tapeworms, they usually cause the death of their host. Their closest relatives are the housefly and the bluebottle.

A number of species have even been bred in captivity and produced commercially as environmentally friendly pest-control agents - as some tachinids attack crop pests.

Learn more about the Tachinid Recording Scheme