Robber Fly

[leswad]

Came across one this weekend and kind of got the "fear of being stung" scare...

The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx.[1][2] The name "robber flies" reflects their notoriously aggressive predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and as a rule they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.

In general the family attacks a very wide range of prey, including other flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, various bees, ants, dragon and damselflies, ichneumon wasps, grasshoppers, and some spiders. They do so apparently irrespective of any repugnatorial chemicals the prey may have at its disposal.[5] Many Asilidae when attacked in turn do not hesitate to defend themselves with their proboscides and may deliver intensely painful bites if handled incautiously.

Asilidae - Wikipedia

 

[Doug627]

When I was young, I would catch one to release in our house to catch the other flies. They are extraordinary. They do catch their prey in flight. When it would eventually die, I would look for another one. They look prehistoric.

 

[JohnRippert]

We see them fairly often around the house.

If you look closely you can see the head of a smaller fly sticking out from underneath the robber fly. Got him!

 

[cmort666]

The larger species are known to attack hummingbirds.

 

[JayFramer]

Nice. This is an even larger, more scary fly and yes, it live in the US:

It's called the Dobsonfly and is... eh... not so friendly looking, as you can see.

 

[LVSteve]

Nice. This is an even larger, more scary fly and yes, it live in the US:

It's called the Dobsonfly and is... eh... not so friendly looking, as you can see.

That's a male and those are just display items for mating time. It's the females that can deliver a nasty bite.

 

[LVSteve]

I have some Robber Fly shots somewhere, but in the meantime here is a similar critter that specializes on bees.

 

[Onomea]

I think an appropriate acronym is NIMBY, thank you very much!

 

[soFlaNative]

Yo les, did you repair the hypopharynx hole in your tire?

 

[leswad]

Yo les, did you repair the hypopharynx hole in your tire?

Dang hole used two patches to fix!