Robber Flies

Brian S

ArachnoGod
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May 29, 2004
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Anyone familiar with these? They are ruthless predators that snatch other flying insects from the air. I have seen them capture wasps, bees, hornets and other insects.


I had never seen one like this before. It is huge!!!!! This one had tried to catch a dragonfly which was bigger than it but was unsuccessful.


They are even known to be cannablistic as you can see in this photo.
 

AR-Tarantula

Arachnoknight
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Great photos!! The bottom two are of Microstylum morosum (no common name). The biggest robberfly in the U.S. Where did you see these? The reason I ask is I just recently published a range extension for this species into Arkansas. If you found these in Missouri that definitely represents another range extension.
What sort of habitat were these in. Mine here were in blackland prairie. This is thought to be a grassland species.
 

Brian S

ArachnoGod
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Thanks :)
I found these in Ozark Cnty which is next to AR.It's really neat that you know which species they are. They are indeed impressive animals for sure. I can tell that they aren't afraid to tackle an insect much larger than them.
As for habitat, I even have a photo of that. It is on a Glade.
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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HAHA!! I only went into this thread because I thought the topic said "Rubber flies" :D I thought, what the... would somebody on this board want with rubber flies?!

But this is far more impressive! Didn't know such beasts where out there.. Nice pics!
 

AR-Tarantula

Arachnoknight
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Very interesting finding them in a glade. I think that would represent the first documentation of them in that sort of habitat. The range of this fly is pretty much lower Great Plains from Kansas down in Texas. Here is an interesting link on M. morosum.

http://www.windsofkansas.com/Basilidae/asilid.html

For a good overally site to identify robberflies, try this Arkansas site. It should have most all the species you have up there.

http://www.hr-rna.com/RNA/Robber main page.htm

If you could get a hold of a specimen of M. morosum from that glade we could co-publish a range extension for Missouri.
 

Brian S

ArachnoGod
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I wish I would have known this yesterday lol. There were several of these flying around. I don't know how easy it would be to catch one though as they are extremely skittish.
If you ever have a free day on a weekend, come up and I willl be more than glad to show them to you ;)
 

AR-Tarantula

Arachnoknight
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I'll have to do that. You definitely do not want to grab one by hand as they have a pretty large and effective knife-like structure for killing prey (personal experience).
 

Brian S

ArachnoGod
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Oh yes I know where you are coming from. I HAVE been bit from some of the smaller species and it is quite painful.

Send me a pm or email when you are ready to come up and check them out ;)
 

Shapedoctor

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Jul 16, 2005
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I like robber flies quite a bit, but I'm glad that one didn't get the dragonfly.
 
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