I took this picture about a year ago, and thought I might share it with everyone. I was walking in the yard when all of a sudden this guy landed on me:
Om nom nom!
Thankfully it was kind enough to sit and pose for a picture or two with my phone before flying off to find a slightly more stable place to eat lunch. I’d seen robber flies around the house before, and besides thinking they were the biggest mosquitoes I’d ever seen, didn’t pay them much mind. I’d never had one land on me much less bite me, so I just kinda ignored them. After seeing this, these “super mosquitoes” go in the “do not swat” category. I’m not great at insect taxonomy, but some brief google-fu brought up this article from the University of Florida Entymology Dept. This insect is some type of robber fly, from the family Asilidae, which includes over 7000 individual species, with over 100 different species in Florida. In general they’re all predatory flies that ambush their prey, often capturing them in mid-air if Wikipedia is to be believed.
Now I just need to find out how to make sure I’ve got good habitat for these things around the homestead! In the UF article, it says that they usually find a perch from which to observe their prey, and lay eggs “on low-lying plants and grasses, or in crevices within soil, bark, or wood.” Fairly generic info, but as I learn more about creating habitat for these and other predatory insects, I’ll be sure to keep you all informed!
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