Subject: What is this creature?
Location: Huntsville Alabama, outskirts of city
July 24, 2016 5:46 pm
Hi
I live in Huntsville Alabama and saw these insects on the railing of my deck. Never seen this creature before. Any id assistance would be appreciated! It’s been close to 100 degrees here, has now cooled off for the evening to about 80-85.
Signature: Carolyn Sanders
Dear Carolyn,
We have a few images in our archive of mating Red Footed Cannibalflies, Promachus rufipes, a large impressive species of predatory Robber Flies, but nothing comes close to your amazing images. It looks like you were several inches away. Though they are not aggressive toward humans, Red Footed Cannibalflies look quite frightening, so we applaud your courage in securing these awesome images. We are also quite impressed the amorous pair did not fly away when you got close. Though not aggressive toward humans, Red Footed Cannibalflies are able to take down very large prey, including stinging wasps and bees, on the wing, and we have read on Hilton Pond Center that a large Robber Fly can even prey upon a hummingbird. We would also caution against trying to handle a living Red Footed Cannibalfly with bare hands as that would most likely result in a painful bite.
