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Robberfly Feasts on a Relative

Baby Red-Footed Cannibalflies!

robberfly ragdoll 300x240 Robberfly Feasts on a Relative

Robber Fly

Location:  Northern Kentucky, near Cincinnati, OH
August 17, 2010 7:56 pm
My garden has been hosting a red-footed cannibalfly this year that I’ve named ’Angel’ because she was ’bug of the month’ for August which pretty much makes her a ’Centerfold’ in bug land. icon smile Robberfly Feasts on a Relative
I scan my garden for her and am usually rewarded with at least a glimpse of her every day.
Last Sunday, I spied a familiar profile, in miniature, on one of my wild phlox. A baby Angel!
Like its mother, it didn’t seem to mind my snapping camera. It was only about 1/2” long. I saw two others before the day was through.
The next day, I caught sight of one of them again and I was amazed at how much it had grown in a single day. It was feeding on what I believe to be a fly, but could be a small bee. It deftly caught prey suitable to its own diminutive size.
Amazing little predators.
Regards,
(p.s. Please feel free to edit my content as you see fit.)
Ragdoll

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Robber Fly eats Fly

Hi Again Ragdoll,
There is absolutely nothing to edit from your entertaining and delightful letter, but we would like to take the opportunity to make some corrections.  Your most recent Robber Fly is not a Red Footed Cannibalfly and we doubt we have the necessary skills to identify which of the 883 North American species indicated by BugGuide that it might be.  You also have a significant conceptual error in your letter that we would like to explain.  Insects undergo metamorphosis and they do not “grow” the way creatures without an exoskeleton grow.  The exoskeleton of an insect is rigid, and before an insect can increase in size, it must molt or shed its hard outer skin.  Insect nymphs and larvae grow after molting, but adults do not since they have reached the end of their metamorphosis.  A “baby Angel” would not have wings.  Instead it would be a wormlike larva.  Many fly larvae are known as maggots.  Your “baby Angel” is actually an adult of a distinct species.  The prey in your two food chain images appears to be a fly as well.

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Robber Fly eats Fly

WOW! Thanks for the spanking, Bugman! It’s totally humbling to be wrong so many times in a single letter. icon wink Robberfly Feasts on a Relative
I honestly appreciate all the corrections. The thing that’s weird is that the ‘tiny’ robber fly looks like it has the red legs, like Angel. All of a sudden, three of them appeared on the same day. The next day, I saw another, but it was a little larger and looked a little different. That’s the one with the fly.
The oddest thing of all, though, is that I have never seen a robber fly in my life till this year. I know that doesn’t mean they weren’t there, but I’ve always been pretty observant about the ‘wildlife’ in my gardens. Maybe it’s like when you learn a new word. You seem to hear it everywhere for awhile.
I find all your info fascinating and I appreciate the education. I’ve always loved to photograph insects, but I’ve only recently started to try to really learn about them. It’s  great that you put so much time into educating the clueless, like me.
Thanks again and warm regards,
Rags

Dear Rags,
No spanking was intended.  Trust us when we humbly acknowledge that we are often wrong and we depend heavily on our readership to provide needed corrections to our own identifications

Posted 20 August 2010 § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Tachinid Fly

Re: SUBMISSION: What insects are on this caterpillar? – - 04/29/10
August 16, 2010
All I know about “insects” is that they annoy me, BUT I have an insatiable sense of curiosity and respect for Nature (and a Nikon Micro lens), SO thought I’d run this one past ya.  Is this a species of fly that is naturally hypomelanistic OR is it some albino variant?  SEE  2 images ATTACHED
Tore out my entire front porch the other day trying to capture a centipede from Mars.  I’m here in the Hill Country of Texas, so we see all manner of stinging inverts, but this one was the mother of all mothers.  She was HUGE.  I had 12″ dressing forceps on her twice, but was afraid of hurting her – to the point of losing her.  Better for her to be lose and intact than smishes, eh?  I’ve captured dozens of them around here, but this was 50% larger than any before.  I got eggs from some Central American centipedes twice, and this one reminded me of one of those (smaller, of course).
Don Soderberg
South Mountain Reptiles

tachinid fly don 300x227 Tachinid Fly

Tachinid fly

Hi again Don,
The circuitous way you sent in this email, by responding to an older correspondence rather than by using our standard form, sent us off on a mission while working on your post.  First, we believed this fly looked like a Tachinid Fly (see BugGuide), a group of parasitoid flies that prey upon caterpillars among other insects.  We found a fly on BugGuide in the genus Ornia that seems to bear an uncanny resemblance to your fly, but alas, BugGuide has no information on the genus, though there is data that it has been reported from across the continental U.S.  Now we wonder if perhaps this is the adult of the unidentified fly larvae that had parasitized the Underwing Caterpillar you submitted back in April and you subsequently used to submit this identification request.  You may have unwittingly provided an answer to your previous request. We will check with Eric Eaton to get his opinion on both this identification and our supposition on the previous identification request.

tachinid fly don 2 300x248 Tachinid Fly

Tachinid Fly

Eric Eaton responds
August 18, 2010
Daniel:
I don’t know.  Ormia are parasites of crickets, though, not caterpillars.  I can’t draw any conclusions on this entire thing.  Tachinids are certainly not my specialty.  Sorry.
Eric

Update
August 17, 2010
I’m sorry I didn’t submit per the usual channel.  It was late last night (this am), and my son brought it to me.  He’s not into animals per say, but has been around me enough to “wonder” when he sees something odd.  Since 100% of all the flies the average person sees in his/her life are black, seeing this one made him bring it to me.  Unfortunately, while I was resizing the pix, he turned it loose.  Like me, unless it’s one of our unwanted neighbors (L. reclusa), he prefers to see the animal released where they were found.  I’m proud of him for that, but wish I’d caught him before releasing that one.  Somebody may have wanted it for closer examination.  IF we see another, I’ll do something to make it ship-worthy in a hurry.  I’m a certified reptile shipper with Fed Ex, so I can get one from point A to point B in a hurry without raising eyebrows (in the event it’s a potential bio-polutant).
Thank you for your response,
Don Soderberg
South Mountain Reptiles

August 20, 2010
Thank you SO much for inquiring.  It’s wonderful to know that there are so many inverts on our special planet that it’s can still be difficult to find experts for each of them.
Don

Posted 17 August 2010 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Horse Fly

Hitch-hiking Horse Fly
Location:  North Middle Tennessee
August 16, 2010 8:22 pm
While driving down a country road looking for insects to photograph this one found me. It landed by the passenger side window. My wife saw it first and said, ”I don’t know what the heck that is.” I knew it was a horse fly but that was about all. I just now looked at the website to try and ID it. The very first horse fly (from yesterday) looks like a match. It appears this is a ”Tabanus sackeni” I wonder if they have a habit of hitching rides. Randall from Mi said his landed on the car as well. Thanks and have a great day.
Richard

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Horse Fly

Hi Richard,
Our first thought upon looking at your images was that Randall sent more photos because your images are so similar to his.  We agree that this is another female Tabanus sackeni, though we always allow for expert corrections to our amateur attempts.  You pose an interesting question.  We doubt that Horse Flies have evolved to the point that they are using Phoresy to get around.  Phoresy is the act of one creature hitching a ride on another creature.  We suspect it is more a matter of being attracted to the color of the car, or the reflectance, or something that we just don’t understand, but whatever the reason, it might make a nice study for a research paper.

tabanus sackeni richard 300x265 Horse Fly

Horse Fly

Here is one more photo for laughs.

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Horse Fly

Posted 16 August 2010 § ‡ Comments (1) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Gallinipper Mosquito

Gallinipper Mosquito
Location:  Kendall County, Illinois
August 16, 2010 12:37 pm
I believe that this is the Psorophora ciliata, or Gallinipper Mosquito. It seems to be an aggressive day biter. I thought you might like the photo. We live in Northern Illinois and this is the first year I have noticed these. We have had a ridiculous amount of rain this year though.
Stacy C

gallinipper stacy 300x120 Gallinipper Mosquito

Gallinipper

Hi Stacy,
As we just noted in the immediately preceeding posting, we love getting preidentified insects that would be time consuming for us to research.  We are linking to the BugGuide page on the Gallinipper which indicates this “large mosquito” has a diet that includes “Males and females feed on nectar, females said to seek bloodmeals from large mammals. Females bloodfeed day and night and are able to bite through heavy clothing.“  The Galveston Mosquito Control website indicates:  “It is the largest blood sucking mosquito in the U.S. Commonly referred to as the “Shaggy-legged” Gallinipper. It is easy to identify by its large size and it inflicts a painful bite. Rarely found in large numbers. The larvae are large and are predacious upon other larvae. “   It is also indicated that adults can fly from one to two miles.

Posted 16 August 2010 § Mosquito ‡ Comments (0) °

Horse Fly

Large fly with horn-like antennae(?)
Location:  New Boston, MI
August 15, 2010 10:19 pm
Found this guy in the first half of August in southeast Michigan. It landed on my car in a rural area, with fields, woodlands, marshlands, and a small river all nearby. It was fairly large, about an inch long or more. I spent years of my childhood exploring the area and have never seen anything like it.
Randall Mosier

horse fly randall 300x176 Horse Fly

Horse Fly

Hi Randall,
We believe we have properly identified your Horse Fly as Tabanus sackeni based on images posted to BugGuide.  It appears that your specimen is a female because of the space between her eyes.  Like Mosquitoes, Female Horse Flies bite while males do not.

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Horse Fly

Posted 15 August 2010 § ‡ Comments (2) °

Robber Fly eats Bumble Bee

Ugliest Wasp EVER
Location:  North Texas
August 14, 2010 6:30 pm
Can you tell me what kind of wasp this is? This wasp will attack flying insects in the air,and if it catches them, seems to attach itself behind the insects head. Sucking out vital fluids perhaps? Also, when this wasp flies, it makes itself appear larger by keeping forelegs up above it’s head. Today one caught a bumble bee of which is in a couple of the photos.

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Robber Fly eats Bumble Bee

I do not know how it nests, I only notice these individually, on my blooming plants just waiting for a chance to catch something.
Curious about the ugliest insect I have ever seen.

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Robber Fly

Dear Curious atuiIhes,
This is a Robber Fly, and it is one impressive creature.  It looks very similar to the Hanging Thieves in the genus Diogmites, but not quite.  We searched BugGuide for related genera, and it most resembles members in the genus Saropogon, but there were no matches on BugGuide.  By doing a web search for Saropogon, we discovered the Key to the Saropogon of the United States page, and the description that seemed closest to your specimen is Saropogon birdi.  We searched that and came up with a photo on Flickr that looks identical to your specimen.  We also located a Midwest Biological Control News page entitled Know Your Friends with this tidbit on another member of the genus Saropogon:  “Saropogon dispar is the most injurious of a number of species in Texas that frequent apiaries — more than 700 of these flies were destroyed in one bee yard in a period of three days!“  We are relatively confident your Robber Fly is in the genus Saropogon, but we would like to try to consult an expert in the family for confirmation.  We will see if Eric Eaton can recommend a Robber Fly expert.

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Robber Fly

Daniel,
Thank you very much for getting back to me. After submitting the photos I looked at your bug of the month and kind of figured it out although I thought it was a hanging thief, it just didn’t hang.. lol    The next day I was out taking pics of butterflies, and one of the robber flies landed on my camera, I almost dropped the camera.. It was probably just trying to be friendly. Right!  Anyway, thank you so very much and I will be happy to know exactly which robber fly this is.
Rhonda, still slightly curious. icon smile Robber Fly eats Bumble Bee

Update on Identification
August 17, 2010
Hi Rhonda,
We are still waiting to hear something from Robber Fly expert Dr. Robert A. Cannings, Curator of Entomology at the Royal British Columbia Museum who we emailed after posting your letter.

Update from Dr. Robert A. Cannings
August 18, 2010
Hi Daniel:  I don’t know Saropogons well, although I think you are
correct in assuming this is one. I’ve sent the photos to Eric Fisher in
Sacramento to check but he hasn’t replied yet. I’ll let you know when he
answers.
Cheers,
Rob

Update:  confirmation of Saropogon
August 26, 2010
Daniel, Eric Fisher says it looks like Saropogon combustus. So there you
are!
Cheers,
Rob

Posted 14 August 2010 § Bumble Bees § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Black Horse Fly

Black Horse Fly
Location:  Cumberland Plateau, rural southeast Tennessee
August 14, 2010 12:21 pm
Hello Daniel,
I thought I’d add to the growing collection of Black Horse Fly pictures. Seems that they are prolific this year! This one is a little over one inch long, and from earlier posts, I think is a female. If so, and the biting sex, I’m glad she was more interested in the top of my grill than in me.
Keep up the great work! It is amazing, entertaining, and informative.
Bob Kieffer

black horse fly bob 300x190 Black Horse Fly

Black Horse Fly

Hi Bob,
As your email indicates, your specimen of a Black Horse Fly is a female as evidenced by the space between her eyes.  This is an excellent companion photo to the one we just posted a few hours ago of a male.

Posted 14 August 2010 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Black Horse Fly

Have not seen this before
Location:  Patchogue, NY on Long Island. Close to the Great South Bay.
August 13, 2010 6:17 pm
I live on Long Island in New York State.
I found this bug relaxing on the side of my home. I have never seen this type of bug before. It is a little more than long.
What is it?
Dean

black horse fly dean 240x300 Black Horse Fly

Black Horse Fly

Hi Dean,
This behemoth of a fly is a Black Horse Fly, Tabanus atratus.  Your photograph enables us to identify him as a male because of the close placement of the eyes.  The eyes of a female are spaced farther apart.  Only female Horse Flies bite.

Posted 14 August 2010 § ‡ Comments (0) °

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