Subject: Big black fly with white stripes
Location: South Africa
March 14, 2017 5:40 am
Dear Bugman
I’m from South Africa. I saw this uge fly on my laundry . It seems like it was feeding on a smal bee. Is this a carpenter bee robber fly?
Signature: Yours sincerely, Gerrit
Dear Gerrit,
This is definitely a Carpenter Bee Robber Fly, Hyperechia marshalli, a species represented on our site in several previous postings. We verified its identity on iSpot. These impressive aerial predators have a particular fondness for preying on large, stinging insects. Your individual appears to be eating a Paper Wasp. The Carpenter Bee Robber Fly is also pictured on iNaturalist.
.An Hyperechia imitator somehow landed on my hand near Kirstenbosch. Very large, pure black – no brown band on the thorax. After examining it I released it into a bush – it did not attempt to fly away – was sluggish.. When I retrieved it to show to someone it “stung” me. It was not particularly painful. I have been stung many times by wasps/bees and have suffered an anaphylactic shock after being stung (unsolicited) by a vespidae species (not identified).
I presume it was a “bite”. It itched considerably for a couple of days thereafter.