this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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What's this Bug?

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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 expert predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and, as a rule, they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.

Stabs their prey and sucks their insides out through a straw. Metal as fuck.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A fitting death for a wasp.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and, as a rule, they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.

Reminds me of dragonflies. Had one of those bros snatch a horse fly that was harassing me right out of the sky in front of me. So cool.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Oh yeah, I remember from back when I was in band camp, our practice field had an aerial battle of dragon flies snatching all the sweat bees out of the air above us.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Location in Sacramento, California

[–] nieceandtows 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Is this the same insect as in this picture? This is one of the very first pics I took on my first point and shoot back in 2010. Never knew what it was. Just thought it looked cool.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, same family at least. Robberflies (Assilidae), they are basically flies evolved to do what dragonflies do except they develop underground instead of in water.

[–] nieceandtows 1 points 1 year ago

That is so cool, thanks for the info!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The one in the post has more black on it, like on it's legs, but I'm no professional so it may be the same, or related in some way.

[–] nieceandtows 1 points 1 year ago

This is from India, so there may be regional variants

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Looks like it

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Monsters eating monsters 😹 wonder what they think of us

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Looks like some kind of robber fly.