Hi everyone! I want to show you a male and female Robber Fly of the same species but first I would like to show you a different species.
It is mind blowing to know that there are over 7,000 species of Robber Flies worldwide and close to 1,000 of them are here in the U.S. This particular one is the Diogmites Neoternatus.
Robber flies have the nickname "hanging thieves" because they hang from their front legs on branches, vegetation or objects while waiting for prey to fly by. That is why they need those big eyes. They feed on large biting flies, bees, wasps, moths and grasshoppers... AND... they catch their prey in mid air.
Robber flies capture their prey by grabbing them with their front legs and then take their prey to a leaf or a branch. That is when they stab the bodies of their prey with their sharp, piercing mouth parts, and suck out their insides. Ew, that doesn't leave a pretty picture in your mind, does it?
This is a different species, black instead of brown and it is hairy. I found it hanging on my back door. It is the male Efferia Aestuans. How do I know it is a male? Because it has a "bulb" at the tip of its abdomen.
And this is the female of the same species. Instead of that "bulb" that the male has, she has an ovipositor at the tip of her abdomen which she uses to lay her eggs in the soil.
Here she is on the outside of my window.
And here she is inside my house at the same window. I think she must have come in when I opened the door. Shoo fly, shoo! Chasing a large robber fly out is not the same as chasing a house fly out. She was fast and sounded like a large carpenter bee. I knew she wouldn't be able to sting me but I was still dodging her. Wish I had a video of that.
As you can see from these two examples, robber flies come in different colors with different markings and some have much more hair. But they all have those huge eyes and the same sharp, piercing, sucking mouth parts.
Thanks for stopping by!
All photos are my own.
Information Source: insectidentificaion.org
Are you looking for another caring community where your creativity and imagination can run wild? A place where you have the opportunity to win prizes for your participation? Are you looking for support or for a place that you would like to support? Then head on over to the Freewrite House and have some fun.