Insect and Spider Identification: CLOSED: What happened to this fly?, 1 by dividedsky

dividedsky wrote:
I've found a couple of dead flies firmly adhered to potato plant leaves, but this one looks different. It has some sort of thing wrapped around it and its head opened like a lid . . .

My random guess is parasitic wasp - which is good for gardening, right? - but I really have no clue. It's gross and fascinating at the same time.

Should I pull the leaf off and move it away or keep adding straw on top of whatever's going on here?