 |
| August 2, 2025 |
Click on photos to see them fullscreen and in detail.
There are over 1,000 species of robber flies in North America. They are large and (excuse me for judging) ugly. They have humpbacks and hairy mouths, They are valuable because they eat insects. The problem is that they also eat insects I love. The robber fly here is, I suspect, eating a syrphid fly (a flower fly). They do not bite us or our animals.
Robber flies can live 2-3 years (they spend 1-2 years as larvae). They have stabbing and piercing mouth parts: they stab the prey, then inject digestive juices into it and slurp up their meal. 😲
National Robber Fly Day is now, in the spring, because that is when the larvae emerge after winter. The eggs are laid in soil or plants. I usually see them later in the summer, for some reason.
I hope you are lucky enough to see one very soon!
 |
| Family Asilidae; Subfamily Asilinae |
