Huge Robber Fly
- Piedmont, NC, USA
This huge (30-35 mm +) robber fly (family Asilidae) allowed close approach, which these usually don’t. Laphria grossa looks pretty good, though exact identification in this genus can be difficult.
(text/photo: Patrick Coin)
Mallophora bomboides is a bumble bee mimic robber fly. This example was photographed at Archbold Biological Station; the robber fly was hanging near a mixed patch of liatris and golden rod. I did not see this one make a capture but, having seen others at work, it is amazing how quickly these ungainly looking insects can launch themselves after prey insects (primarily pollinators).
(photo/text by NonEntity9 on Flickr)
Modern insects, like this robber fly, sport compound eyes with hundreds or even thousands of individual lenses, so that they see the world in pixels; more lenses mean more pixels and better visual resolution.
(Image: Peter Hudson, South Australian Museum)
(via: Live Science)
Bug close-up: Robber Fly (Triorla interrupta) with Common Whitetail Dragonfly (Plathemis lydia) (photo: Thomas Shahan)
insectlove:synthetictone: Diogmites Robber Fly (photo: Thomas Shahan)
