The family Asilidae, which belongs to the order Diptera, is referred to as robber flies or assassin flies. The Asilidae family is widely distributed in different parts of the world with an estimated 7000 species that have been described by entomologists.
Although there are minor variances in size and color, almost all species in the Asilidae family are muscular and robust, have a lot of hair around the neck, an elongated abdomen, and spiky legs with extremely strong grips.
The common name "robber fly" refers to their predatory aggressive behavior. Robber flies typically kill their prey using their short, sturdy proboscis, in contrast to other predatory insects that do it with their strong jaws.
The proboscis can even spear a grasshopper or wasp that is much larger than them with a sharp sucking hypopharynx. And, astonishingly, they surprise prey and pounce while in flight.