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Unknown Robber Fly from Canada

Posted by bugman July 30th, 2011 at 12:18 pm

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Robber Flies

Help with bug I.D., please
Location: Quebec, Canada
July 29, 2011 12:54 pm
This little fellow joined me on my lounger as I was enjoying the beach. Would you be able to tell me what it is?
Signature: buggy-eyed

robber fly canada 300x238 Unknown Robber Fly from Canada

Unknown Robber Fly

Dear buggy-eyed,
Can you please provide us with an approximate size since “little” is quite relative.  At first, upon viewing the head on view, we were convinced this was a Hanging Thief, a species of Robber Fly in the genus Diogmites, however, upon seeing the view from the rear, we have our doubts.  This Robber Fly most closely resembles a species in the genus Saropogon, however, BugGuide only has sightings in the Southwest, and we cannot locate any information if that species is found in Canada.  You can compare your fly with images posted on BugGuide.  Here is the online key to the genus Saropogon, but alas, ranges of different species are not included.  We will contact Eric Eaton for his opinion, and we might try to elicit assistance from other experts, Dr Robert Cannings and Eric Fisher.

robber fly canada 2 300x186 Unknown Robber Fly from Canada

Unknown Robber Fly

Thank you for your help. This robber fly was about 1-1.5″ long. It does look like the Saropogon luteus.
Laura

Dr. Robert Cannings responds
September 22, 2011
Hi Daniel:
Sorry for the long, long delay. I think this is Diogmites basalis, the only Diogmites that occurs in Canada, as far as I know. As you suggest, no Saropogon species comes close to Canada, especially in the East.
Regards,
Rob

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Comments 5

  1. photogirl800mm wrote:

    Hi. I sent a rather blurry picture in last week which looked really similar to this Robber Fly. A friend of mine in West Va took the pic, in a school room. She said her husband saw another one outside in a different town about two days later. I told her to come to this page and check it out — she said yes, this looks like what she saw. Would they be that far North East as West Virginia? Thanks!

    Posted 30 Jul 2011 at 8:10 pm
  2. bugman wrote:

    As we stated in the original posting, we thought this looked like a Hanging Thief in the genus Diogmites. Chances are that your friend saw a Hanging Thief. Here is a photo from our archives of a Hanging Thief for comparison.

    Posted 30 Jul 2011 at 9:47 pm
  3. photogirl800mm wrote:

    Thanks so much!!! I love this site!

    Posted 31 Jul 2011 at 7:55 am
  4. bugman wrote:

    Thanks for your exuberance.

    Posted 31 Jul 2011 at 8:41 am
  5. photogirl800mm wrote:

    I sent my friend the link to this page, with the Hanging Thief, and she said YES, that was what it was — because the pointy nose was the same :)

    Posted 31 Jul 2011 at 3:13 pm

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