Subject: Bug bit wife
Location: North Carolina
July 10, 2017 7:38 pm
Hey was just wondering what this bug was is
Signature: Ryan
Dear Ryan,
This is a predatory Robber Fly in the family Asilidae. Robber Flies generally take prey on the wing, and large Robber Flies are capable of attacking large prey. Robber Flies are not aggressive, but they do have mouths adapted to piercing the hard exoskeletons of insect prey, including Dragonflies and large Wasps, and then sucking fluids from the now dead prey. We doubt this Robber Fly dive bombed and attacked your wife. You did not provide much in the way of details, but we suspect perhaps this Robber Fly found itself trapped inside your wife’s clothing and then bit defensively.
I was working night shift on a buffer (when landline phones still existed). One of these bit me so hard I dropped the handset which roichocheted and flew past my head about 40 mph. I knew what bit me because it casually flew a few feet and landed on the wall next to me. I always called these things horsefly’s ever since. They do bite, maybe the loud vibrating machine triggered it.