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Possible Brachonid Wasp
Hi,
I saw this Wasp-like insect this morning through my kitchen window near Benson, Arizona. It is large (maybe 2 – 3"), orange body, dark wings, white face with short red antenae. Two photos of this insect attached. I searched your pic and think this is in the Brachonid Wasp family. Thank you,
Carol Breton
Benson, Arizona

Hi Carol,
This is a Robber Fly, not a Brachonid Wasp. It sure looks like on of the Hanging Thieves in the genus Diogmites, but there are no exact species matches on BugGuide. We will contact Eric Eaton and Martin Hauser to see if either of them knows the species.

Update: (09/26/2007)
Hi Daniel,
I sent the pics to Eric Fisher, who knows everything about robbers (only the flying ones). He told me it is Archilestris magnificus (Walker), a Mexican species which has been only a few times collected in Arizon, but nowhere else in the US… It is not really a hanging thief, but it sure looks like one. Great catch! Cheers
Martin Hauser

Comment: (09/26/2007)
Wow! Hey, I think a friend of mine got one across the border in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico back in 1989. We were on vacation together, and this big robber fly was trying to get out of a storefront window. So my friend paid the dude for the fly! LOL! Wish I would have tried to outbid him:-) Hope we can get these images migrated over to Bugguide, as I’m sure it would be a new genus and species….but I also know how busy you are, Daniel. Maybe Eric Fisher can take a look at our Bugguide asilids and confirm IDs?
Eric Eaton

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