Robber Flies ad nauseum (not for the faint of heart)

Jerry Snider · Aug 28, 2005

Robber flies are becoming bolder. Had one attach to the underside of my lens hood today, also to my pantsleg (several times). Here one is feeding on a honey bee. The fly in the second photo is attached to the inside of my tripod leg, so removed the camera, 2 flashes, etc. and attempted a hand held shot, thus the latter is somewhat shaky. Darned flashes won't fit between the tripod legs too well either! So, after all of these excuses, here they are for what they are worth:

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Gale · Aug 28, 2005

Great images.

Leg of tripod.. All of mine should look so (awful ???) lolol

Good shot, clear..

Great job.

Nasty little critters aren't they.

Steve S · Aug 28, 2005

WOW, these are *both* great captures! I've never seen a Robber Fly before. Nasty looking critters, aren't they? What part of the US do you live in, anyway?

PGB · Aug 28, 2005

Jerry,

As usual your picture posts are without equal.

Excellent job!

Jerry Snider · Aug 28, 2005

Steve S said:
WOW, these are *both* great captures! I've never seen a Robber Fly before. Nasty looking critters, aren't they? What part of the US do you live in, anyway?

Steve, Robber Flies are quite common and you likely have them in or near your backyard (assuming that you have one, of course) at some time or another. I live in Cincinnati (your next door neighbor!).

Jerry Snider · Aug 28, 2005

Thanks Gale, Patrick for the comments. Got about a dozen good ones of the robber flies in this session but didn't want to inundate you with gore and different prey. However, all of the photos begin to look alike after 2 or 3, and didn't want to be accused of having a trained fly :smile:

kramp · Aug 29, 2005

Jerry you get all the cool insects, I have them in my yard but there pretty jumpy and I haven't been able to get a shot of the bigger ones.

Well done Jerry, great pictures I will check the gallery for the rest.

Martin