Subject: What is this thing?
Geographic location of the bug: North Carolina
Date: 08/15/2019
Time: 11:37 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hello, recently I found this very strange looking…wasp? Hornet? I don’t know. It was dead when I found it. I tried searching for what it might be online but couldn’t find anything with a matching description. I hope you can help!! Thank you.
How you want your letter signed: Mack
Dear Mack,
This is a large, predatory Robber Fly in the family Asilidae, but we do not recognize the species. The black coloration is quite unusual for an eastern species. It might be Proctacanthus nigriventris which is pictured on BugGuide. Your dorsal, lateral and frontal views are excellent for an expert’s ability to identify the genus and species, but alas, we do not possess that expertise. Perhaps one of our readers will provide a less general identification.
P. fulviventris seems to be more lookilike, but the northernmost distribution is Georgia.
Thanks Cesar. Here is a link to a BugGuide image.